Climate-Smart Pest Management in Sustainable Agriculture: Promises and Challenges

Abstract

Sustainable development in global and regional contexts has become mandatory to prevent the potential adverse effects of human activities on the environment. While agricultural activities stand as the leading source of degradation and pollution in ecosystems, climate changes are among the most important challenges facing agricultural productivity. Climate-smart agriculture involves farming methods and strategies adopted for the early diagnosis and management of climate crisis drawbacks. Changing climatic conditions affect plant health either through abiotic or biotic factors that influence diverse disease scenarios on a wide range of crops. Therefore, disease management under the concerns of climate change is considered the cornerstone of sustainable agriculture. The climate-smart pest management (CSPM) concept and its role in supporting sustainable agricultural development, particularly the effect of weather changes on phytosanitary issues, are reviewed in this article. Problems in implementation and difficulties in decision-making are among the main challenges facing CSPM, which still has both technological and coordination shortcomings to overcome. Intensifying collaborative activities in scientific and technological research, risk assessment, and surveillance may enhance the current efficiency of CSPM in terms of preserving the sustainable development of agricultural systems. More efforts for capacity building are also needed in developing countries to promote the implementation and adoption of CSPM.