Selected emerging and reemerging plant pathogens affecting the food basket: A threat to food security

Abstract

The introduction and spread of plant diseases and insect pests, mostly in horticulture and forestry, among food crops and other plant species have significant global repercussions for the farmers, seed industry, policy-makers, and the general public. It is important to increase the risk analysis, technical aspects of quarantine, and other control strategies. Programs to improve various protective measures against plant diseases and insect pests have been introduced by several agricultural ministries in various countries. It also offers an opportunity to raise public awareness of the need to deal with more serious issues connected to the threat posed by emerging and reemerging phytopathogens to food crops, forest trees, and other ecosystem services provided by the environment. Selected and significant developing diseases, their consequences, and potential sources of novel pathogens are addressed in this overview. The diseases reviewed include late blight of potatoes, Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW), and black stem rust of wheat, which form a major food basket across the globe. Pathogen distribution and climate interactions, relationships between pathogenic virulence and climate, and the effect of climate on emerging pathogens are also discussed. Discussed also include changes in the ecological settings and atmospheric composition that favour infections but are unfavourable to host plants, this aggravating disease epidemics, as well as static management strategies that promote the creation of novel diseases and pests. Environmental change, particularly when coupled with introduction of new pathogen/host, may cause unprecedented outcomes. New pathogens affect the measures farmers apply to effectively manage the new pathogen in addition to the feasibility of cropping systems in various regions.