International Year of Plant Health 2020 to Focus on Threat of Pests on Food Security

The United Nations General Assembly declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health and the year provides a lifetime opportunity to the global community to ponder over the issue and raise global awareness at scientific and administrative fora on this vital issue which has imminent impact on the food security. There are reports about the crop losses due to the diseases which will further aggravate with the changing climate¹ . The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that annually, between 20% and 40% of global crop production are lost due to pests. Each year, plant diseases cost the global economy around $ 220 billion, and invasive insects around US$ 70 billion² . In another study, plant diseases were estimated to cause 15–30% yield losses globally³ . The losses are based on the documents associated with 137 pathogens and pests associated with wheat, rice, maize, potato and soybean worldwide. This analysis contributes critical information to prioritize and draw strategies for crop health management to improve the sustainability of agro ecosystems in delivering services to societies.