Identifying Stressors’ Impacts (Research)

Assessment details impact of pests and pathogens on the world’s major food crops

Image credit: Penn State

Problem

How can the impact of pests and pathogens on the world's five major food crops be precisely measured to protect global food security?

Wheat, rice, maize, soybean, and potato supply 50 percent of the global human calorie intake.

Findings

An international team of plant pathologists developed an online survey to gather data on crop losses. They identified 137 specific pests and pathogens harming the five major food crops across sixty-seven countries.

Wheat losses = 10–28 percent
Rice losses = 24–41 percent
Maize losses = 20–41 percent
Soybean losses = 11–32 percent
Potato losses = 8–21 percent

Impact

The team's quantification of crop losses helps guide research priorities by differentiating between chronic stressors on these crops.

Develop resistant varieties as a long-term strategy.
Identify emerging or reemerging stressors that require urgent action to contain them.

Related Research Areas: Advanced Agricultural and Food Systems and Environmental Resilience

Research Credit

Team

Paul Esker, Serge Savary, Laetitia Willocquet, Neil McRoberts, Sarah Pethybridge, and Andy Nelson

Participating Department

Plant Pathology

Partners

The International Society for Plant Pathology, French National Institute for Agricultural Research, University of California–Davis, Cornell University, University of Twente in the Netherlands, North Carolina State University

Competitive Funding

Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture; American Mushroom Institute

Federal and State Appropriations

Projects PEN04608 and PEN04609 and USDA NIFA Accession #1010032 and #1010058

Emerging Discoveries

Assessment details impact of pests and pathogens on world’s major food crops

February 26, 2019

Pests and diseases are taking a substantial bite out of the world’s five major food crops — in some cases, up to 40 percent — according to a recently released publication, one of the first to inventory the impact on a global scale.

Plant pathologist receives grant to develop disease management tools for wheat

July 21, 2020

Paul Esker, a plant pathologist in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, has received a $455,000 grant from the U.S Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to support a five-year integrated research and extension project designed to improve management recommendations for wheat.