Wednesday 12 February 2014

India Only Next to USA in Terms of Number of Crop Pests and Pathogens



Plant Scientists from UK have studied the economic and physical determinants of the global distribution of crop pests and pathogens. The full report has been published online in New Phytologist on Tuesday (11th February 2014) As a part of their study they observed the pest and pathogen numbers per country, with the largest numbers reported by the USA (1200), India (1063), China (1012), France (999) and Japan (973).



Top 5 countries in terms of number of pest and pathogen (Bebber, et.al., 2014)
S.No
Country
Number of Pests and Pathogens
1
USA
1200
2
India
1063
3
China
1012
4
France
999
5
Japan
973









They also reported the most widespread pests, in terms of number of countries in which they are found. Top ten most widespread pests are listed below. 

1. Bemisia tabaci (Insecta, present in 156 countries)
2. Aphis gossypii (Insecta, 153 countries)
3. Planococcus citri (Insecta, 143 countries)
4. Meloidogyne incognita (Nematoda, 143 countries)
5. Agrius convolvuli (Insecta, 141 countries)
6. Plutella xylostella (Insecta, 138 countries)
7. Helicoverpa armigera (Insecta, 135)
8. Myzus persicae (Insecta, 133 countries)
9. Guignardia citricarpa (Ascomycota, 131 countries)
10. Pseudocercospora angolensis (Ascomycota, 131 countries)
 

They summarised their analysis that reported pest numbers increased with per capita gross domestic product (GDP), research expenditure and research capacity, and the influence of economics was greater in micro-organisms than in arthropods. Total crop production and crop diversity were the strongest physical predictors of pest numbers per country, but trade and tourism were insignificant once other factors were controlled. Islands reported more pests than mainland countries, but no latitudinal gradient in species richness was evident.

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