Plant Disease Diagnostic Capabilities in Venezuela: Implications for Food Security

Edgloris Marys,Ligia Carolina Rosales

doi:10.3389/fsufs.2021.715463

Abstract

Venezuela is currently experiencing the most severe humanitarian crisis in the Americas of this century. Little food is being produced locally, despite the population's right to food. Plant disease outbreaks are causing substantial declines in major staple food and cash crops, and this impacts on rural livelihoods, and poses a significant and growing threat to the already complex food insecurity crisis in the country. Nonetheless, phytosanitary services and hence the control of plant pests and diseases have been substantially weakened over the recent years as a consequence of the collapse of the economy and the substantial deterioration of government services. Therefore, most of the pathogens associated with symptoms-causing diseases remain unidentified or uncharacterized, and no surveillance or crop protection strategies have been implemented. In this review, we address the country's issues and challenges in diagnosing, monitoring and managing plant diseases to restore national food security.

Highlights

Venezuela is experiencing a profound humanitarian emergency that has led more than 9.3 million people to be acutely food insecure and in need of assistance since JulySeptember 2019 [World Food Program (WFP), 2019], making this the current fourth-largest food crisis in the world (Global Network Against Food Crises, 2020)
Access to agricultural production data in Venezuela has been restricted by government agencies in recent years
According to The Confederation of Agricultural Producers Associations of Venezuela (FEDEAGRO), between 2009 and 2018 the production of strategic agricultural commodities like rice decreased by 50.9% and corn 55.9% (Gutierrez, 2019) (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Venezuela is experiencing a profound humanitarian emergency that has led more than 9.3 million people (a third of the population) to be acutely food insecure and in need of assistance since JulySeptember 2019 [World Food Program (WFP), 2019], making this the current fourth-largest food crisis in the world (Global Network Against Food Crises, 2020). The current state of hunger in Venezuela is a result of multiple societal collapses. From 1999 to date, the transition from a capitalist to a socialist State-centered mode of production impaired agricultural and food production systems (reviewed in Rodríguez-García, 2021). The situation is aggravated by the total collapse of public services, fuel shortages, and by the impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic which has affected logistics and agricultural activities across the country (FAO and WFP, 2020). Official figures record an average 27% shortage and fall in agricultural production between 1999 and 2014, while other figures report 70% drop (RodríguezGarcía, 2021). The low productivity is caused by shortage of agricultural supplies (seeds, fertilizers, agrochemicals, etc) and other factors (Tapia et al, 2017). This review raise the issue of crop losses due to pathogens, linked to the dismantling of the plant diagnostic network across the country

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Methods