China’s Crops at Risk: Climate Change Boosts Spread of Crop Pests and Diseases
Published:12 Dec.2021 Source:Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
Crop pests and diseases in China have significantly increased, with climate change being one of the relevant drivers, new research finds.
Based on a unique, previously unpublished data set ranging from 1970 to 2016, an international team including the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) compared long-term statistical records about pest and disease occurrence in China with potential climatic driving factors -- such as temperature, precipitation, humidity -- as well as factors from farming practices, including for instance fertilizer application, irrigation, use of pesticides. They found that, since the 1970s, the occurrence of crop pests and diseases in China has increased by a factor of four. Climate change is responsible for likely about 20 percent of the observed increase, with great variations between different Chinese provinces.