International Day of Plant Health 2022; May 12nd.

FORUM: Protecting Plant; Protecting Life. International Day of Plant Health 2022.

The Observance helps highlight issue of plant pests and diseases responsible for the loss of up to 40 percent of food crops, worsening hunger Join the conversation #PlantHealthDay.

FAO estimates that plant pests and diseases cause food crop losses of up to 40 percent, and the damage they cause to agriculture exacerbates the existing issue of growing world hunger and threatens rural livelihoods. Protecting plants from pests and diseases is far more cost effective than dealing with plant health emergencies. Once established, plant pests and diseases are often impossible to eradicate, and managing them is time consuming and expensive.

“Sustaining plant health promotes food security and nutrition while protecting the environment and biodiversity, and boosting livelihoods and economic growth, in the context of global challenges, particularly climate change,” said Jingyuan Xia, Director of FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division.

“Making the general public more aware of the role of plant health and the ways we need to act urgently to curb the risks of plant pests and diseases, as well as understanding how to restrict the spread of invasive pests will make a significant contribution to global food security,” said Osama El-Lissy, Secretary of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).

VIRTUAL EVENT- 12 May, 13:30 - 15:30 CET; Register to participate, get the IDPH2022 Programme.

Get Involved!

Whether you’re a government, city, private business, NGO, journalist, a civil society organization or individual, we can provide you with a range of multimedia content in several languages to share, and to support the International Plant Health Day activities. 

Contact IDPH@fao.org