Latest Briefing in Ecosystems and biodiversity for 2010

Future disease threats to food crops - are we prepared?

Monitoring crops for new threats provides an early warning of emerging problems affecting food production & quality.

Crops are continually affected by new pest weed and disease threats, and early recognition is important to understand their importance to Scottish food production.  Long term changes in the climate may also lead to an increase in new outbreaks and also changes in the types of crops grown in Scotland. Maize is an example of a crop which is likely to increase in area, bringing with it new disease problems which can affect food quality.
When potatoes were first introduced into Europe, no major problems were documented.  The fungal disease late blight struck Europe in the 1840s leading to poor harvests which resulted in famine in Ireland and Scotland.  Starvation and mass emigration were the consequences of these famines.

Since the Corn Laws put high duties on imported grain, it was not the shortage of food per se, but a shortage of affordable food which caused so much misery.  You can travel on destitution roads in Scotland which were built to provide work for people who could not afford to buy grain as a consequence.

Plant pathology was in its infancy at that time and although fungal diseases had been associated with poor harvests, they were not thought to be the primary cause of the damage, hence the lack of knowledge about this disease.

Published on 18 October 2010 in Sustainability and Communities , Climate, water and energy , Ecosystems and biodiversity

Briefings in Ecosystems and biodiversity for 2010