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The Plant Health Consortium focuses on three main objectives. Firstly, providing farmers with accurate pest and disease diagnostics helps them accurately diagnose diseases. Proper diagnostics lead to proper management, while inaccurate diagnostics can result in financial loss for the farmer. Information on pest and disease diagnostics informs us about their distribution and prevalence. Secondly, understanding the impact and distribution of pests and diseases enables us to prioritize which ones require research. This knowledge is also beneficial in negotiations for new export markets with countries like China, Egypt, and Indonesia. Thirdly, once we understand which diseases we are dealing with, we can focus on how to manage them.
We have different networks, such as the Sclerotinia Network, that bring together researchers, farmers, and industry professionals to determine how to manage Sclerotinia. The research team recently organized a Weed Science Day, which follows the same approach of bringing together various stakeholders to improve understanding of weed conditions in the country and to develop management strategies moving forward.
A consortium has been established under the theme Crop Protection, with a special reference to soil-borne pathogens. The focus here is the monitoring of disease incidence and the build-up of soil-borne pathogens inoculum. Some of the most important diseases and pests resulting in yield losses are the result of inter alia nematodes infestations, sclerotinia etc. Part of this consortium is to foster closer ties with policymakers in an effort to keep quarantine pests and diseases outside the borders of SA.
With Climate Change, changes in agricultural practices (intensification) and trade causing increases of certain pests and diseases in places where they were previously not a problem, we document these as they gain economic importance locally or international on neighbouring states. This will give background information to these pests and diseases, for example how they can be spotted, their origin and ecology, as well as give information on control measures that producers can use against these pests.
Biosecurity is defined as a set of procedures or measures designed to protect the population against harmful biological or biochemical substances. It encompasses the safety of humans, animals, plants and other useful organisms against pests, diseases and other biological factors, and it is not only essential for trade but also for promoting sustainable agriculture, food, nutrition and livelihood security, and equitable economic development.