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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Agriculture Report. |
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Insects and diseases that attack food crops |
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are moving as risen temperatures |
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bring changes to the environment. |
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Plant diseases alone destroy an estimated |
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10 to 16 percent of the world's crops in the field, |
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experts say, plant diseases destroy |
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another 6 to 12 percent after harvest. |
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A new study examines the movement of crop pests and diseases, |
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and how it will effect agricultural production worldwide. |
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Dan Bebber is a senior research fellow |
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at the University of Exeter in Britain. |
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He says research has shown |
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that wild plants and animals are moving |
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toward Earth's North and South poles as the planet warms. |
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Mr Bebber wanted to know if the samething was happening |
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with organisms that attack agricultural crops. |
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He examined reports of first sightings of new insects |
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and diseases around the world. |
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The records came from CABI |
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- the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International. |
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He says the group began collecting information |
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from developing and industrialized countries years ago. |
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Dan Bebber and his research team studied 612 different organisms |
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- from viruses and bacteria to insects like beetles and butterflies. |
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They found that since 1960, crop pests and diseases |
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have been moving toward the poles |
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at an average rate of about 3 kilometers each year. |
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Mr Bebber says this puts |
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the most productive farmland in the world in danger. |
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"As new species of pests and diseases evolve |
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and potentially the environment for them |
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becomes more amenable at higher latitudes, |
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the pressure on the breadbaskets of the world is going to increase." |
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Farmers face other threats. |
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Invasive species passed through trade are also causing problems. |
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Gene Kritsky is an Entomologist |
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at the College of Mount St. Joseph in Ohio. |
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He specialises in the study of insects. |
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He says climate change may improve conditions for some invasive species. |
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"It means that species in other parts of the world |
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that might do well in warmer temperatures |
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can now do well in the breadbasket of America." |
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Another Entomologist Christian Krupke of Purdue University says |
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the effects of these changes will depend very much on the crop, |
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the insect and the disease. |
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But he says the research is a warning sign |
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that people should care about climate change |
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and do something about it. |
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And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English. |
