28-03-2014, 11:36 AM
Global Food Security and Plant Diseases
Introduction
What is food Security ?
Concepts of food security have evolved in 1970s World Food Conference and it change time to time.
FAO in 1983 defined food security as
“Ensuring that all people at all times have both physical and economic access to the basic food that they need”
More recently, the ethical and human rights dimension of food security has come into focus.
Major Constrain of Food Security
Global Climate Change. e.g., 25% of world cereal production in Asia will be uncertain by 2050 due to Global Warming. (Y.S. Paul,2012).
Urbanization or Total Arable Land Reduce. e.g., the total global cropping area will be reduce 8–20% by 2050 (Nellemann et al., 2009).
Pest Problem. e.g., global crop losses due to plant diseases will be increase 3-4 folds due to global climate change by 2050. (Suresh Pande,2012).
OUTLOOK FOR GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY
World population is expected to reach 9.1 billion by 2050. (FAO, 2009)
At present time more than 1 billion people do not have adequate food and 1.3 billion live on less than $ 1 per day.( Suresh Pande, 2012)
Current projections suggest that average daily energy availability could reach 3050 kcal per person by 2050 (2970 kcal in the developing countries), up from 2770 kcal in 2003/05 (FAO,2009)
Cereals demand, is projected to reach 3 billion tonnes by 2050, up from today’s nearly 2.1 billion tonnes.(FAO,2009)
Cereal yield growth rate would slowdown to 0.7 percent per annum (0.8 percent in developing countries), by 2050 .(FAO,2009)
Recent Threatening Fungal Diseases:
Ug99 virulent strain of Puccinia graminis tritici highly virulance to gene Sr31 which widely utilized in green revolution creating varities i.e., ‘megacultivars’ &‘PBW343’ in Asia , Europe &U.S. ,(Julie Flood,2010).
Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) of Wheat (Fusarium graminearum ) causing crop loss of $2.7 billion in USA. due to contamination of trichothecene mycotoxin.(Goswami & Kistler, 2004).
Phakopsora pachyrhizi cause Asian soybean rust now appearing as epidemic globally. (Goellner et al., 2010)
Coffee Wilt disease (CWD) caused by Fusarium xylarioides reduced 77% yield at the national level in Uganda. (Hakiza et al.,2009) .
Threats of Fungus Like Organisms
Fungus like organisms refers Plasmodiophoromycetes, Chytridiomycetes and Oomycetes.
Recent time Plasmodiophora brassicae caused club root of crucifers is a serious problem in Nepal and Paro.
Phytophthora infestans costing annually loss of $3 -$10 billion each year in developing countries.
New race13_A2 genotype of Phytophthora infestans appeared epidemically in 2009-10 in Tomato in Karnataka state of India. (C. Pallem et al., 2012).
The disease severity of late blight of potato will be reduce by 5-7% by 2040 in India and West Bengal. (APN project, 2010 )
Conclusion
To ensure the Global food security at present or in future crop loss due to plant diseases should be reduce by improve technologies such as adoption of Genetic modified crops with integrated strategies of disease management.