International Year of Plant Health 2020

The UN General Assembly has declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). The international community is thus recognising the importance of plant health for food security, raw material supplies, biodiversity and the various services provided by the Earth’s terrestrial, forest, aquatic and other ecosystems. For the purposes of IYPH, plant health has been defined as “the discipline that uses a range of measures to control and prevent pests, weeds and disease-causing organisms spreading into new areas .” Plants are an integral part of biodiversity and are indispensable for life on Earth, in particular as oxygen producers and as food sources. In fact, more than 80% of the world’s food is derived from plants. Plant health thus provides a guarantee of reliable plant resources based on sustainable ecosystems.