FAO Director - General QU Dongyu today called for stepped up exertion to protect plant wellness , underlining that " safeguarding the wellness of plant means that we are safeguard the wellness of the planet . " Qu was talk at an consequence to check off the International Day of Plant Health 2024 .

" From the food on our tables to the air we pass off , flora play an essential function in sustaining life , " Qu said , underlining that the prevention of disease or pest " involves biology , ecology and agronomy " as well as pathology and entomology .

Through a video statement interpret on his behalf , , the Minister for Agriculture and Land Reclamation of Egypt , Mohamed El - Quseir , described plant wellness as a vital offspring instantly affecting spheric food security for millions of people and delineate a mountain range of measures Egypt is taking in grimace of the challenges ; Jennifer Moffitt , Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs of the United States Department of Agriculture ( USDA ) , underscore the impact of increased worldwide travelling and trade in proving opportunities for the spreading of invading industrial plant pesterer . The Permanent Representatives to FAO from Canada and Kenya also participated in the upshot .

In his remarks , the FAO Director - General ply some thoughts on the need for enhanced and co-ordinated study to protect works health , such as :

First : plants are a generator of food for thought and impart to global solid food security , providing 80 percent of our food forming part of unchanging and sustainable ecosystems .

Second : flora health is critical for mitigating the impingement of the climate crisis ..

Third : healthy plant are key to avoiding disruptions in international trade , with around 220 billion dollar sign in economical losses being sustained due to pest and diseases .

4th : plant health is the substructure of One Health , which link it with soil and environmental health and brute and human health .

The Director - General also underline the importance of FAO ’s workplace with the International Plant Protection Convention , using conception and engineering science to support countries in protecting industrial plant and safeguarding food security , protecting the environment , and promoting good trade .

The ePhyto Solution , now adopt my more than 120 countries , is help make international craft of agricultural products quicker , safe and more efficient .

The Africa Phytosanitary Programme , meanwhile . is helping countries in detecting plant pestilence of economic and environmental implication .

FAO has also help grow maize diverseness that are resistant to fall armyworm , theme borers and drought , using modernistic industrial plant breed technique in Ethiopia , Kenya , Mozambique , Nigeria and South Africa , let Farmer to use fewer insecticides and increasing their productivity and profitability .

The Director - General stressed that without healthy plant there can not be more effective , more inclusive , more resilient and more sustainable agrifood systems .

" By take a crap plant wellness a priority , we can contribute to the Four Betters : unspoilt yield , better nutriment , a good surround , and a better living – leaving no one behind . "

In a expert session , which also took seat at the case , speakers from Italy , Uganda , the United States and the IPPC discuss theme including : how to manage pests in the postal E - commerce pathway ; experience of digitizing prescribed Inspection and corroboration system to enhance healthful and phytosanitary conformity for horticulture exports in Uganda ; moving to digital phytosanitary - or flora health - certificates for safer swap ; ocean container as nerve pathway for pest and IPPC ’s work to foreclose pest spread .

Source : fao.org

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