Did you know that plants need our help too? 🌱 On May 12, we celebrate the International Day of Plant Health, a special day created by the United Nations to remind us how important healthy plants are for everyone on Earth! 🌍
Plants give us fruits, vegetables, and grains that we eat every day. But guess what? Up to 40% of global crops are lost each year because of pests (tiny bugs that harm plants) and diseases. That’s almost half of the food that could feed people! 😱 This doesn’t just make people hungry, but it can also hurt the environment and make it harder for us to deal with big problems like climate change.
This year’s theme is “The importance of plant health in One Health.” But what does that mean? 🤔 The One Health approach is like a big team-up between people, animals, plants, and the environment. It’s supported by groups like the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization. It means that if we take care of plants, we help everything else too! 👫🐶🌳
Protecting plants from pests and diseases isn’t just a job for farmers. It helps reduce the use of chemicals like pesticides, keeps our planet’s biodiversity (all the different kinds of life) safe, and can even stop bad diseases that spread from animals to humans. 🦠
Countries around the world are doing cool things to keep plants healthy. For example, last year, China introduced the Huiyan system, developed by smart scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 🛰️ This system uses artificial intelligence (AI), drones that fly low over fields, and special sensors to watch over more than 20 kinds of crops and forests. It can warn farmers early if pests are coming, helping to protect plants all over the world! 🐞🚁
In Beijing, they have a smart vegetable protection platform that uses AI to find and fight pest threats quickly. This helps farmers grow more food while using fewer chemicals, which is great for the environment! 🥕🍅
At the farm level, scientists like Professor Huang Lili and her team at Northwest A&F University have created special ways to stop diseases in apples and kiwifruits. Their method, called “winter disease, summer prevention”, helps farmers know when to protect their plants and how to make them stronger against diseases. This helps fruit growers have better harvests and healthier plants. 🍎🥝
So why does plant health matter? Because healthy plants mean healthy people, animals, and planet! 🌟 As big challenges like climate change happen, it’s more important than ever to find smart and sustainable ways to protect our green friends. Maybe you can help too by learning more about plants and how to care for them! 🌻
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
