Plant Pests Seen as Threat to Global Food Security

(BBC News) - The threat posed to crop production by plant pests and diseases is a key factor that could lead to "a perfect storm" that threatens to destabilize global food security.

 

According to an article by BBC News, the biological threat already accounts for about a 40% loss in global production and the problem is forecast to get worse, scientists warn. The article focuses plant pests threatening crops around the world as delineated by Dr. Matthew Cock, chief scientist for Cabi, a UK-based agri-environment research organization.

 

Cock stated that it is not possible to list the "world's worst" agricultural pests, as perceptions of  pest, measures, and value vary by geography and time. However, in order to raise awareness of the immense range of pests and diseases that threaten agricultural crops, the devastation they can cause, and the difficulties in controlling them, he proposed "nominations" for such a list, including human beings as a top nomination.

 

"This species could appear in several categories, but we include it just once here, for its sometimes accidental, sometimes purposeful habit of introducing pests to new habitats where they flourish through lack of natural controls," Cock told BBC, also noting that at any time, weather conditions, mutation to a virulent form, or emergence of chemical resistance can cause a pest to unexpectedly surge into prominence.

 

Read the full article at BBC.