Plant Diseases and Food Security in the 21st Century

Around 800 million people worldwide do not have enough to eat, and by 2050, the population is expected to exceed 9 billion. Plant diseases cause significant losses in food production, with estimates of 15% in developing countries. Historical examples include the Irish famine, the Great Bengal Famine, and the devastating epidemic in the US. Food security is threatened by ongoing and emerging plant diseases, requiring expert knowledge to address this challenge for the 21st century.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 284 pages
Publication date: 24 May 2022
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG

More than 7 billion people live on the planet, but 800 million of them do not have enough food to eat today. The population is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. It is estimated that 15% of food production is lost to plant diseases, and in developing countries, the losses may be even higher. Plant diseases have had a catastrophic impact on food production throughout history. For example, potato blight caused the Irish famine in 1845, brown spot of rice caused the Great Bengal Famine of 1943, and southern corn leaf blight caused a devastating epidemic on the US corn crop in 1970. An ongoing sequence of plant diseases threatens food security, some of which persist for decades or centuries, while others are more opportunistic. Wheat blast and banana xanthomonas wilt are two contrasting examples of diseases that currently threaten food production. Many more emerging diseases are expected to follow. The proposed title aims to provide a comprehensive synthesis of expert knowledge to address this critical challenge to food security for the 21st century. Chapters 5 and 11 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

Weight: 462g
Dimension: 235 x 155 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783030579012
Edition number: 1st ed. 2021