Equivalent of Covid emerges in Indian agriculture, can affect food security

There has been a lot of controversy around how Covid-19 emerged. For the previous a single and fifty percent yr, Covid-19 – an invasive, hugely infectious and virulent sickness has devastated public health and fitness and plagued the health care program in India and throughout the world. At the exact time, while remaining unnoticed at urban policy stage, a troika of alien enemies have infiltrated agriculture and plagued farmers and their crops in the very last handful of yrs. In spite of specialists sounding alarms for yrs, the biosecurity, phytosanitary import regulation and quarantine measures failed to incorporate the influx of invasive pests and illnesses.

The to start with and foremost enemy of agriculture is the invasive drop armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) that invaded the hinterlands in Could 2018. It is a devastating pest of maize and now can be noticed damaging sugarcane, sorghum and millets. The next unfamiliar enemy is a fungal plant pathogen (Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense) novel pressure “Tropical Race-4” (TR-four) infecting the banana crop in modern yrs. Very last, but not the the very least is a ravenous migratory pest desert locust (Schistocerca gregaria), a gregarious pest that has grow to be a nuisance to farmers in very last two yrs. In numerous parts, these crop enemies have taken a toll as farmers are grappling with administration tactics and successful handle measures.

Compromising food security

The new enemies of agriculture are described as the equal of Covid-19 and have the likely to unfold like an epidemic in agriculture and compromise India’s food security. It is time that crop health and fitness enemies get the form of policy interest specified for the administration of Covid-19, which includes the speedy-monitoring crisis acceptance of novel biotherapeutics and vaccines, surveillance of prevalence, resolve of micro-containment zones and recognition about ideal conduct. Strengthening phytosanitary and quarantine measures, shedding anti-science bias in the direction of genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) and genome editing, speedy-monitoring acceptance of biotech characteristics and crop security molecules and deployment of drones are some of crucial parts of interventions for the prevention and mitigation of danger by invasive pests and illnesses in agriculture. The Indian governing administration have to search further than the produced pseudo-controversy and misinformation about science of agriculture enable policy surroundings, streamline regulatory processes and watch inter-ministerial cooperation in several regulatory bodies to reach the aim of crop health and fitness and food security

A modern speedy roving study by SABC of fodder maize crop in some areas of Aurangabad division in early summer indicated a worrying trend of FAW infestation in fodder maize fields that can have a spill around influence of business maize in the forthcoming kharif period. In addition, there have been studies of FAW infestation of maize crop planted in spring and summer in North, North-East and Southern India. There is a require to keep near watch on pest dynamics and maize growers have to be alerted for imminent danger, if any. The speedy migration of FAW since Could 2018 reveals the capacity of the pest to promptly reproduce, intense feeding as properly as speedy migration to maize creating regions. The agricultural R&D and extension program have to not remain complacent, and farmers require to be cautious of the ravenous drop armyworm.

Novel fungal pressure

In addition, a novel fungal pressure TR-four has been not too long ago documented in 2017 and emerged as a big danger to banana fruit plantation in Bihar, UP, MP and Maharashtra. The TR-four race of panama wilt of banana has leapfrogged throughout the world, starting from Taiwan, then to South Asia, Africa and has now entered India. The pressure TR-four has an effect on the widely cultivated exportable banana selection Grand Naine (G-9) and can cause enormous decline to farmers and unfold rapidly in soil and drinking water. Until eventually now, the banana crop planted around nine lakh hectares mostly stays pest-absolutely free except some manageable sickness these as Sigatoka and Bunchy major virus. The large-scale banana plantation in Bihar, UP, MP, Maharashtra and Gujarat are vulnerable to sickness TR-four and can sufferunless it is properly controlled. None of the cultivated varieties are resistant. Consequently, there is a require forsurveillance to realize the an infection and signs or symptoms of this sickness for well timed handle measures. At this time the only treatment is to identify the wilted vegetation due to TR-four and wipe out them to avoid contamination. Sanitation of the banana gardens is the best preventive evaluate.

Unquestionably, monitoring and surveillance are the hallmarks for early reaction, handle measures and successful administration of the invasive enemies. Desert locust is the vintage instance of how the proper monitoring allows FAO to give forecasts, early warning and alerts on the timing, breeding, scale and area of invasions. India endured locust outbreak in 2020 and we have to now actively coordinate with FAO Locust Plan to assess possibility of migration of locust swarms from Africa towards South-West Asia in the long run. Establishing bilateral collaboration with locust hosts as properly as impacted countries is crucial to track, trace and mitigate problems.

Biotech innovation

A different big issue is how innovation in biotechnology would be designed available in our place to greater handle the drop armyworm as properly as TR-four fungal sickness. The US and Latin American countries have been able to handle drop armyworm for the previous 20 yrs applying insect resistant Bt maize. Australian researchers have not too long ago developed genetically-modified bananas applying the genome edited CRISPR method for Fusarium mutant TR-four. These systems will before long be adopted by banana escalating countries to get over the unbearable influence of Fusarium sickness. In India, the policy uncertainty on genetically modified crops has already delayed introduction of risk-free and demonstrated biotechnologies in maize, soybean and canola.

Novel vaccines and biotherapeutics developed by genetic modification techniques have been expeditiously accepted for mass inoculation, nonetheless, the genetic modification in agriculture is delayed and denied to tens of millions of farmers except for Bt cotton, efficiently commercialised in 2002 and planted around 95 for each cent of cotton region in 2020. In spite of a biological war, a strong policy surroundings and a big drive to R&D and innovation can eradicate the troika of alien enemies, enhance farm realisation and sustainable agriculture.

(Chaudhary is the founder-director of South Asia Biotechnology Centre (SABC), Jodhpur Agale is Research Scientist at SABC and Mayee, President of board of administrators of the Centre)