One of the most important challenges for modern man in the 21st century is meeting the nutritional needs of the planet’s population (~9.5 billion by 2050), at a time when the earth’s natural resources are decreasing dramatically. This means that any loss in food production becomes extremely significant.
Climate change, combined with intensive farming techniques, pose a serious risk to global Food Security, as they cause adverse effects on food production, such as the emergence of new plant pathogens, which cause losses that can exceed 50% of annual production important crops.
According to the UN, “food security exists when all people on the planet have, at all times, physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and dietary preferences for an active and healthy life” . A series of recent events, e.g. the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of climate change, etc. they revealed the vulnerability of food production systems worldwide, as well as the fear of a global food crisis.
Today we deal with phytopathogenic micro-organisms mainly with the use of chemicals that are not always safe for humans and the environment. This makes it imperative to develop new sustainable and environmentally friendly management strategies to minimize production losses from pathogens.
The research in the laboratory of Prof. P. Sarris focuses on the study of the molecular mechanisms of plant-microbe interaction to understand both microbial pathogenicity and the activation of innate immunity in resistant hosts.
Questions such as:
– What is the state of global Food Security today?
– How close is humanity to a global food crisis?
– How do pathogenic microorganisms affect the Food Security of the planet?
– Can the scientific community face this risk? What means does it have?
– What measures need to be taken in the EU? and globally?
-How does climate change threaten food security?
The event is open to the public.
Tags: Food security biggest challenges Humanity speaker Professor Panagiotis Sarris
