Innovation in sustainable management of plant diseases and pests, and effects on the environment

Abstract

The increasing World population requires high quantities and guaranteed quality of food with high nutritional value and little or no residues of synthetic pesticides. Therefore, it is mandatory to set up new agricultural techniques to improve soil fertility, favor optimal growth of crop plants, and increase crop resilience and resistance to pathogens and pests. An appropriate strategy for crop management includes optimization of application rates, available tools and the environmental fate of pesticides. Integrated pathogen and pest management involves a number of preventive measures based on agronomic, genetic, biological, and chemical control methods that will reduce the sensitivity of the agroecosystem. To obtain good results with minimal input, the correct application of biological, biotechnical, and chemical approaches needs to be followed according to best practice. In addition, evaluation of agricultural residues and supply-chain by- products can contribute to improvements to product sustainability, as highlighted by many life-cycle assessment studies. Finally, modern agriculture can benefit from new tools provided by precision farming, for improved efficiency of fertilizer use and effectiveness of application of organic soil improvers, biocontrol agents, semiochemicals, and botanical, microbiological, and synthetic pesticides. Such sustainable integrated approaches can be used for both small-scale and large-scale farming, with the main target of improved crop production, and in particular for organic farming, where agriculture can also have an important role in social inclusion.