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International Day of Plant Health

Promoting the importance of Plant Health research

Plant Health is the foundation of food security and is interconnected with human, animal and environmental health. Healthy plants provide nutrient-rich diets for humans and animals and help promote a balanced ecosystem. Pest-infected plants can trigger a cascade of negative effects on food supplies and induce outbreaks of zoonotic diseases transmitted through harmful pathogens. Pesticides play a role in pest management but their overuse and poor management cause biodiversity loss, environmental pollution, ecosystem dysfunction, food safety concerns and pesticide resistance.

Plants are life – we depend on them for 80 percent of the food we eat and 98 percent of the oxygen we breathe. But we lose as much as 40 percent of crops to pests, setting back global efforts to ensure food security, harming precious biodiversity and impacting economies and livelihoods.

This year, the International Day of Plant Health calls on everyone to raise awareness and take action to keep plants, animals, humans and the environment healthy.

When we protect plants, we protect lives.
The upcoming International Congress of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union, titled: “New Phytopathology Frontiers of Research and Education for Plant Health and Food Safety” aims to promote education and research as essential tools to address the new challenges of phytopathology and food safety, thereby raising community awareness and promoting a responsible, ecological and sustainable future.

The Congress will serve as a forum to facilitate the exchange of cutting-edge scientific knowledge, to encourage dialogue between researchers, policymakers, industry and other stakeholders in plant and food health and to empower a robust and connected knowledge community that collaborates towards shared goals and objectives.
MPU Conference 2025

Video contest Plant Health TV 2025

Following the declaration by the United Nations General Assembly of the International Day of Plant Health (IDPH), every 12th of May, the Plant Health Community celebrates the importance of Plant Health by organizing events to raise awareness and to mobilize international communities.

In order to give visibility to national and international research and development activities carried out by plant health scientists and their organizations, the Euphresco III network, the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies of Bari (CIHEAM Bari), the Plant Biosecurity Research Initiative (PBRI) and CABI are pleased to launch the fourth edition of the video contest ‘Plant Health TV - Promoting the importance of Plant Health research’.

The winning video will be broadcast at international events organized for the celebration of the 2025 IDPH, and other events such as the 17th Congress of the Mediterranean Phytopathological Union (MPU2025).
EUPRESCO III Video Contest 2025

The winning video of the 2024 contest

The video highlights a key pest, the Beet Armyworm Spodoptera exigua that affects the production of several crops in Jamaica. Research studies were conducted to better understand the biology of the pest and a number of strategies employed in its management.These strategies include chemical and biological control methods as well as a pest forecasting system for ealy detection.

From Research to Impact: CIHEAM Bari and the Global Challenge of Plant Health

On the occasion of the International Day of Plant Health, CIHEAM Bari reaffirms its commitment to safeguarding plant health as a cornerstone of food security and ecosystem balance. Through its cutting-edge research activities—particularly those carried out within the laboratories of the "Cosimo Lacirignola" Campus in Valenzano (BA)—and the expertise of its specialized team in the Integrated Pest Management of Fruit Trees and Vegetable Crops (IPM), CIHEAM Bari actively contributes to global efforts in promoting sustainable plant protection. Recognizing that healthy plants are essential not only for nourishing diets and animal feed but also for preventing the spread of harmful pathogens and zoonotic diseases, CIHEAM Bari supports innovative approaches that reduce pesticide reliance while preserving biodiversity and environmental health.

Agriculture, Green & Digital (AGREED)

AGREED is a project of and IoT phytosanitary surveillance system based on the integration of advanced information technologies, geomatics, forecasting, diagnostics and metabolomics, which cooperate to support a sustainable phytosanitary management of fruit and vegetable crops vine, olive, citrus and tomato) in respect of the environment, safety and healthiness of production of southern Italy.

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XylApp

XylAppPuglia is an android application for tablet/smartphone for the monitoring of X. fastidiosa in Puglia (2014) in order to facilitate, optimize and rationalize data acquisition in the field (e.g., geolocation of plants, species, age).

XylApppeople is a surveillance application intended for citizens to facilitate real-time reporting of suspected cases (e.g. photos of plants, geo-referencing).

XylAppNENA is the version implemented for NENA countries (Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Palestine, Morocco, Libya).

XylAppEU is the version for the EU territory (H2020 project Xylella Fastidiosa Active Containment Through a multidisciplinary-Oriented Research Strategy - XF-Actors).

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EUPHRESCO

The aim of the project EUPHRESCO III is to enhance national and regional phytosanitary research coordination beyond what the Euphresco self-sustained network has achieved and to set the foundations for global phytosanitary research coordination. This will be achieved by building on the foundations developed by the Euphresco self-sustained network and explore fit-for-purpose activities.
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Phytosanitary Apps

Ap3est is an Android/iOS application for tablet/smartphone that facilitates, optimizes and rationalizes data collection, geo-localization and storage related to samples (plant material/insects) during the monitoring of quarantine organisms: pathogens (X. fastidiosa, E. amylovora, Ca Liberibacter spp. the agents of citrus HuangLongBing, Ca Phytoplasma vitis, Monilinia fructicola, Plum pox virus, Citrus tristeza virus), vectors (P. spumarius, Aphids, Scaphoideus titanus) and pests (Bactrocera spp.).

AppPhytoBosnia-Herzegovina is an Android application for tablets/smartphones to acquire information in pest monitoring in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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Publications

The Compendium on the ‘Plant Health Research Priorities for the Mediterranean Region’, published in 2020 to celebrate the IYPH, was the first joint Euphresco and CIHEAM Bari initiative launched to improve the coordination of research efforts on plant health in the Mediterranean region and to enhance cooperation of stakeholders within the area. The compendium was prepared on the basis of information and views collected from national experts from the Balkan-Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean, Maghreb, and Western Mediterranean sub-regions on the important pests, the research priorities, the important research infrastructure and the research capacity. The supplement 1 is an update of the Compendium and will be published in June 2022. It contains the experts’ indications of the research needs for the priority pests listed in the compendium and the details on the discussions undertaken in 2021 with representatives of national organisations involved in phytosanitary research.


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