Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The research institutes should respond to threats
resulting from climate change by carrying out
collaborative research and surveillance to evalu-
ate the changes in cropping systems and produc-
tion practices affected by it and to fi nd out which
cropping systems are the most vulnerable to
increased threats from pests and disease due to
climate change. The knowledge gained in these
areas will allow partners to develop and recom-
mend new IPM options to countercurrent threats
and future potential challenges.
Conservation agriculture and the enhancement of
natural enemies to keep pest populations under a
control threshold are major elements of
CHM. Ideally the agroecosystem is developed to
function in a largely self-regulating manner to
counteract a range of pests and diseases and to
produce high yields of good quality with minimal
impact on the environment. The use of compan-
ion cropping for the integrated management of
soil fertility also forms an important part of
CHM, enhancing agrobiodiversity and sustaining
profi table agriculture. Diverse soil biota will not
only help to prevent losses due to soilborne pests
but also increase the rate at which organic matter
and toxic compounds decompose and improve
nutrient recycling and soil structure. The research
institutes should focus on broadening the under-
standing of the ecological relationships in agri-
cultural production systems to improve soil, root,
and plant health in key regional or global crop-
ping systems of the tropics and subtropics.
11.3.1.2 Food, Feed,
and Environmental Safety
Pesticide residues, heavy metals, and microbial
and mycotoxin contamination in food and animal
feed are serious health risks. Afl atoxin, a toxin
produced by fungi, is particularly dangerous to
humans and animals, causing liver cancer, stunt-
ing, low weight, and high disease susceptibility.
These contaminants also make it necessary to
have stringent quality standards on food prod-
ucts, thus depriving the farmers and exporting
countries of a vital income. The threat to food
and feed safety is addressed by developing new
varieties of crops with resistance to fungal colo-
nization, reduced toxin production, and swifter
toxin degradation. Scaling up and scaling out
biological control will provide effective solutions
to food and animal feed contamination. The
development and application of cost-effective
mycotoxin detection tools increases opportuni-
ties for exporting agricultural produce and allows
for the mitigation of health risks from local food
supplies. Developing alternatives to pesticides
and increasing farmers' awareness and knowl-
edge about the negative impacts of pesticides will
enhance the benefi ts of existing and new crop
health management technologies in this area.
11.3.2 Innovations in CHM
The research institutes are already at the forefront
of deploying genetic resources from their in-trust
germplasm collections and advanced crop breed-
ing populations for improving the resistance of
crops to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, in
many cases, inadequate or no sources of resis-
tance have been found in established crop germ-
plasm or wild relatives. Whereas IPM supports
the effective use of resistance in crops, crop pro-
tection has to act independently where adequate
host plant resistance does not exist to keep pests
under control.
Assessing and improving the health of agro-
ecosystems and their resilience against potential
threats, such as water shortages, heat stress, and
insect and fungal pressures, can be furthered by
using advanced diagnostic tools that can detect
changes in the functioning of plants and systems
at multiple scales. Employing these tools should
enable the more targeted and effi cient application
of any necessary CHM strategy, thereby ensuring
its longevity and effectiveness. Such diagnostic
technologies may be employed at the farm level,
11.3.1.3 Agroecosystem Resilience
High genetic crop and cropping system diversity,
diversifi ed landscape structures, and appropriate
agricultural practices are important to maintain
long-term agricultural productivity and sustain-
ability. Relatively little research has been con-
ducted to understand agroecosystem resiliencies
and soil health as an approach to control pests.
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