Plant Protection Outlook in the Asia-Pacific Region

Agriculture underpins the livelihoods of nearly 2.5 billion farmers and is of pivotal importance in eradicating hunger, resolving malnutrition and ending poverty. In the Asia-Pacific, agri-food production is increasingly affected by climate change, extreme weather events, and the unceasing proliferation of transboundary pests and pathogens. Climate change makes crops more susceptible to pest attacks (invasive or endemic) and facilitates the arrival of new pests. Over the past years, transboundary pests such as fall armyworm (FAW), desert locusts, and brown planthopper have inflicted major losses in prime food crops.

Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an integrated approach to sustain agri-food production in the face of the above biotic and abiotic adversities. The CSA toolbox includes a range of measures to raise farm efficiency, substitute chemical inputs with agroecological measures, and pursue a far-reaching redesign of farm management systems. In close collaboration with the
Asia-Pacific Plant Protection Association (APPPC), this Plant Protection Outlook was crafted as a way to ensure that eco- friendly practices, agroecological approaches, and pest-suppressive farming systems feature prominently within CSA schemes.

This report equally helps to bridge the gap between “know-how” and “do-how” approaches in the plant protection programmes and policies of various Asia-Pacific countries.