FAO welcomes decision to mark International Day of Plant Health annually on May 12

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed the UN’s decision to establish an annual International Plant Health Day, a key issue in addressing global hunger, as pests and diseases of plants cause massive crop losses and leave millions of people without enough food.

The celebration, which will take place every May 12, was advocated by Zambia and unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in a resolution co-signed by Bolivia, Finland, Pakistan, the Philippines and Tanzania. The Day is a key legacy of the International Year of Plant Health, which was celebrated in 2020-2021.

The resolution establishes that healthy plants form the basis of all life on Earth, as well as ecosystem functions, food security and nutrition, adding that plant health is key to the sustainable development of agriculture. needed to feed a growing world population by 2050.

“The International Day for Plant Health will be an opportunity to highlight the crucial importance of plant health, both in itself and as part of our One Health approach, which encompasses human, animal and ecosystem health,” said Director-General FAO Deputy, Beth Bechdol. . “It couldn’t be more vital to make sure we do everything we can to maximize the food resources our planet can provide.”

FAO estimates that plant pests and diseases cause food crop losses of up to 40 per cent, and the damage they cause to agriculture exacerbates the existing problem of rising world hunger and threatens rural livelihoods. Protecting plants from pests and diseases is much more profitable than dealing with phytosanitary emergencies. Once established, plant pests and diseases are often impossible to eradicate, and management is time-consuming and expensive.

“Maintaining plant health promotes food security and nutrition while protecting the environment and biodiversity, and driving livelihoods and economic growth, in the context of global challenges, in particular climate change. climate change,” said Jingyuan Xia, Director of FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division.

“Making the general public more aware of the role of plant health and the ways we urgently need to act to curb the risks of plant pests and diseases, as well as understanding how to restrict the spread of invasive pests will make an important contribution.” significant to global health. food security,” said Osama El-Lissy, Secretary of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).

Building on the achievements of the International Year of Plant Health, the International Day of Plant Health has five specific objectives:

1. Raise awareness of the importance of keeping plants healthy to achieve the UN 2030 Agenda, particularly SDG 2 (Zero Hunger).

2. Campaign to minimize the risk of spread of plant pests through trade and travel, promoting compliance with international plant health standards.

3. Strengthen monitoring and early warning systems to protect plants and plant health.

4. Enable sustainable pest and pesticide management to keep plants healthy while protecting the environment.

5. Promote investment in innovations, research, capacity building and outreach in plant health.

FAO is working hard to help curb the spread of quarantine and transboundary plant pests and diseases, which have increased dramatically in recent years. Globalization, trade and climate change, as well as reduced resilience in production systems due to decades of agricultural intensification, have played a role.

Desert locusts, fall armyworms, fruit flies, TR4 banana disease, cassava diseases and wheat rust are among the most destructive transboundary plant pests and diseases.