Plant diseases rarely ever contain themselves till national borders; the miles of oceans are also largely incapable of preventing their spread. The need of the hour is to develop such technology that can detect sources of plant disease outbreaks while it is in its initial stage. So that the spread can be curbed before it turns into a full-fledged pandemic. Global Plant disease outbreaks are continuously rising in numbers and are one of the biggest threats to the global food supply. According to a paper published in 2019, mean losses to essential food crops such as maize, wheat, and rice range from 21% - 30% due to diseases and plant pests.
A new research study might shed light on this ongoing and very relevant problem as it shows that disease monitoring can be improved through electronic sensors. They will have the capacity to rapidly detect and track emerging plant pathogens, thus, giving humankind an early start to any potential outbreak. Currently, the research is underway to model the risk posed by plant pathogens spread and their subsequent prediction and prevention. The success of such research with its Modelling and Forecasting Disease spread would be a huge contribution to the Phytopathological Disease Diagnostics Market as it could facilitate mobilization of mitigating strategies precise enough to stop pandemics.
The world has understood the importance of information sharing, data modeling, and analytics in the fight against COVID-19 pandemics. All these tools could also be essential towards building resilience policies against future plant disease outbreaks. They could be beneficial in identifying local citizen science monitoring and global crop trade networks. Although there are numerous diseases under constant global surveillance (late blight and wheat rush), other crop diseases are yet to be routinely monitored. There are some surveillance networks that already exist; however, in order for them to function properly, they’ll need to be connected and funded by intergovernmental agencies and expanded globally.
The researchers in their study also state that efforts would be needed from a wide range of scholars to prevent plant-caused pandemics. They would include geneticists, crop scientists, data analysts, crop disease specialists, statisticians, economists, geographers, engineers, farmers, and other individuals who are involved in the protection of crops and people who eat them.
The advent of globalization has led to agriculture and food supplies being interconnected with national borders. All such crop trade networks need to be analyzed, with increased information sharing amongst countries so that risks from pests and diseases can be pinpointed. Furthermore, the team stated the need for linking global human health with global plant health by all scientists collaborating. This is because food security is directly connected to livelihoods which are linked to human health, and agriculture which is ultimately linked to the food consumed by humans.