Adaptation to new pests and pathogens
Despite the global effort in germplasm evaluation, selection, and
plant breeding, an estimated US$200 billion is lost annually to
plant diseases alone; soil-borne plant parasitic nematodes and
other plant pathogens are responsible for more than half of these
losses. Crop damage from pests and pathogens is frequently the
consequence of complex biological interactions with weather at
critical crop development stages. Plant protection strategies use
short-term weather to forecast the likelihood of pest and disease
outbreaks, in order to time the application of tactical control
options such as chemical sprays. However, uncertainty under
climate change adds another layer of complexity to pest and
disease management and also to the utility of these tactical
responses (Chakraborty and Newton 2011).