This is the 3rd edition of the Conference on ‘From Plant Health to Community Health’.
This year’s conference will focus on technological and sensor aspects related to agricultural production with respect to sustainability and conservation of ecosystem biodiversity.
According to UN estimates, the world population is expected to grow by 2 billion in the next 30 years, resulting in an expected increase in demand for food and agricultural production. Today, biotic and abiotic environmental stresses, such as plant pathogens, sudden fluctuations in temperature, drought, salinity and toxic metal soil pollution, exacerbated by climate change, impair crop productivity and cause significant losses in agricultural yields worldwide. Losses of 11 to 30 percent are estimated for the five major crops of global importance (wheat, rice, corn, potato and soybean) due to plant pathogens and insects, especially in regions already suffering from food insecurity.
In this context, innovative approaches are called for to alleviate the increasing pressure on agriculture and to meet the growing demand for food. A key challenge is the early detection of plant stresses in order to be able to make timely interventions and increase the effectiveness of plant stress management.
In a sustainable agriculture system, the health status of each of the major interacting elements (plant, soil, water and air) can be verified with the help of various sensors.
Today, there is clear evidence of the importance of developing innovative tools, in terms of data collection, portability, flexibility, efficient use and transmission of information, that can monitor the plant health status and report stress events in real time and directly from the field, to prevent yield loss and reduced crop quality.
Prominent scientific and institutional authorities will participate in the conference with the aim of sharing the latest and most constructive information on the topic.
