Climate Change: Perspectives of challenges and options in plant disease and pest management

This article compares information on effects of changing climate on agriculture. The overview reveals that effect of climate change (CC) on agriculture or more precisely diseases and insect pests of agricultural crops is multidimensional. Magnitude of this impact could vary with the type of species and their growth patterns. The climate change has direct role on stratospheric ozone depletion which in turn has direct impact on biodiversity loss, physiology and morphology of plants and ecosystem balance and finally resulting in desertification and also indirect effect on soil fertility. Changing climatic conditions impact crop production by changes in average temperatures, precipitation patterns, increase in pests and invasive species, acute losses resulting from more frequent and intense weather extremes and soil erosion. The nutritional value of some foods also change due to elevated atmospheric CO₂ (increase in carbohydrates but decreased protein and vitamins). The tropical regions appear to be more vulnerable to climate change than the temperate regions for several reasons. World over research effort on effect of climate change on pests and diseases of crops is inadequate. In India, there is limited work effort in this area for practically any insect-pest, or diseases of any crop. However, at the genomic level, advances in technologies for the high-throughput analysis of gene expression have made it possible to check discriminating responses to different biotic, abiotic stresses and potential trade-offs in responses. The diagnostics of diseases and pests and capacity building of farmers, extension and even research personnel for adaptation to changed pest scenario under future climates assumes significance and Farmers’ decisions are of vital importance for obtaining good yields of crops. Weather forecast or its products and area-wide weather networks are becoming more prevalent. Now, the challenge is to bring continuous improvement in productivity, profitability, stability and sustainability of major farming systems, wherein scientific management of plant pests are pivotal. Thus, future research and education in Crop Protection in India needs to address the issue of future climates in pest management.