Problems, challenges and future of plant disease management： from an ecological point of view

• Published in: Journal of Integrative Agriculture Vol. 15; no. 4; pp. 705 - 715
• Main Authors: HE, Dun-chun, ZHAN, Jia-sui, XIE, Lian-hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Science Press 01.04.2016; Fujian Key Lab of Plant Virology, Institute of Plant Virology, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, P.R.China; Elsevier
• Subjects: avoidance; disease resistance; disease resistance avoidance elimination and remediation ecological plant disease management evolutionary principle food security plant disease economy; ecological plant disease management; elimination and remediation; evolutionary principle; food security; 农业生产潜力; 农业生态系统; 植物; 生态学原则; 生态环境; 病害管理; 粮食安全; 自然资源; elimination and remediation; disease resistance; evolutionary principle; plant disease economy; food security; ecological plant disease management; avoidance
• ISSN: 2095-3119; 2352-3425
• DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(15)61300-4

Plant disease management faces ever-growing challenges due to： （i） increasing demands for total, safe and diverse foods to support the booming global population and its improving living standards; （ii） reducing production potential in agriculture due to competition for land in fertile areas and exhaustion of marginal arable lands; （iii） deteriorating ecology of agro-ecosystems and depletion of natural resources; and （iv） increased risk of disease epidemics resulting from agricultural intensification and monocultures. Future plant disease management should aim to strengthen food security for a stable society while simultaneously safeguarding the health of associated ecosystems and reducing dependency on natural resources. To achieve these multiple functionalities, sustainable plant disease management should place emphases on rational adaptation of resistance, avoidance, elimination and remediation strategies individually and collectively, guided by traits of specific host-pathogen associations using evolutionary ecology principles to create environmental （biotic and abiotic） conditions favorable for host growth and development while adverse to pathogen reproduction and evolution.