May 11, 2022
May 12, 2022, marks the inaugural International Day of Plant Health, a day created as part of the legacy of the International Year of Plant Health, which was celebrated from 2020 to 2021.
Without healthy plants, we cannot grow enough nutritious food to feed our growing world population and prevent malnutrition. Plants make up 80 percent of the food we eat, but they are under constant attack from pests and diseases, which destroy between 20 to 40 percent of food crops every year.
In honor of this inaugural international day, we are featuring two opinion pieces that highlight the importance of plant health.
Learn more about the work of germplasm health units, from Lava Kumar, Head of the Germplasm Health Unit for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
READ: Healthy Agriculture starts with healthy seeds
Learn more about the importance of healthy plant diversity from Luigi Guarino, Director of Science for the Crop Trust
READ: Thoughts on the Inaugural International Day of Plant Health
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