Plant health can have a considerably bigger impact on people’s lives than a majority of people realize, even if it may not be covered in the media as frequently as coronavirus. To keep valued plants healthy and productive throughout history, humans have fought against pests and plant diseases. The Irish potato crop failed repeatedly in the 1840s due to a bacterial disease, which is likely the most notable instance of plant health failure. Around 1.5 million people left Ireland for the US and Canada as a result of the subsequent famine, which caused hundreds of thousands of fatalities.
Plant health problems can still have a substantial impact on agricultural production and the environment, even if they are less severe than the potato famine. Crop yields would indeed be 20 – 40 percent lower without the present plant protection treatments that are accessible to farmers, according to a new EU assessment of the plant protection business.
Farmers have had access to an expanding variety of chemical-based plant protection options during the majority of the 20th century to aid in maintaining robust, healthy plants. Although some of these solutions have had great success in the past, there is now a lot of demand to find new approaches to maintaining plant health due to rising research costs and growing worries about some of these products’ unexpected impacts. Fortunately, there are many instances where modern technology can assist farmers in lowering or even eliminating their use of conventional plant protection agents. Here are various ways that modern technology is promoting the health of plants:
Early detection and monitoring
Early illness or another problem diagnosis in plants can provide a much quicker and easier solution, just like in human health. Researchers and professionals from all around the world are attempting to use both new and old technology to improve plant health. These technologies, which range from video imaging to artificial intelligence, are utilized to support early problem detection and prompt problem resolution before the issue has a chance to develop and cause significant harm. Since many of these systems can be accessed through smartphones, farmers and other professionals can make better decisions while out in the field or traveling rather than having to wait for test results.
Breeding
Selective breeding has been employed by humans for a very long time to find special plants that are more resistant or productive to a specific virus or insect assault. These conventional breeding techniques have been supplemented by GMO (genetically modified organism) technology, and more recently, CCRISPRCas 9 technology, which enables humans to speed up the selection of desirable traits to create healthier, more productive, and pest- and disease-resistant plants. Plant breeding created a new resistant variety, the Cavendish banana when the “Panama disease” (a fungal infection of banana plants) nearly wiped out all of the world’s banana supply in the 1960s. The majority of imported bananas today are Cavendish.
Biopesticides or novel control agents
There have been numerous advancements in the application of natural or live agents to manage particular plant diseases and pests. The government is aware of how crucial new technology is in helping to maintain plant health while minimizing the environmental impact of conventional plant protection techniques. The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund’s Transforming Food Production (TFP) program provides funding for initiatives that aim to boost farm production and efficiency while minimizing environmental impact and assisting producers in their transition to net zero emissions.
Precision farming
Another method that technology can help reduce the number of chemical products required is by improving the accuracy and precision of the application of plant health products. Using cutting-edge technologies, like precision hoeing that makes use of vision systems, non-chemical ways can be developed to produce comparable or superior outcomes.
A major concern for the security of human food has been and will continue to be maintaining healthy, productive plants. To ensure that the techniques we use to maintain plants’ health and productivity are effective, have a minimal negative impact on the environment, and lead to net zero emissions, new technologies are essential.
