Plant viruses pose a continuous and serious threat to crop production worldwide, and globalization and climate change are exacerbating the establishment and rapid spread of new viruses. Simultaneously, developments in genome sequencing technology, nucleic acid amplification methods, and epidemiological modeling are providing plant health specialists with unprecedented opportunities to confront these major threats to the food security and livelihoods of millions of resource-constrained smallholders. In this perspective, we have used recent examples of integrated application of these technologies to enhance understanding of the emergence of plant viral diseases of key food security crops in low- and middle-income countries. We highlight how international funding and collaboration have enabled high-throughput sequencing-based surveillance approaches, targeted field and lab-based diagnostic tools, and modeling approaches that can be effectively used to support surveillance and preparedness against existing and emerging plant viral threats. The importance of national and international collaboration and the future role of CGIAR in further supporting these efforts, including building capabilities to make optimal use of these technologies in low- and middle-income countries, are discussed.

The example cases presented in this perspective were supported by the following funders: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Banco Interamerican de Desarollo, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, National Science Foundation of the U.S.A., USAID, U.K. Department for International Development, Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa, African Agricultural Technology Foundation, and the CGIAR Research Programs on Roots, Tubers and Bananas and MAIZE, as well as, since 2022, through ...

https://doi.org/10.1094/phyto-12-22-0457-v

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P. Lava Kumarhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-4388-6510

https://doi.org/10.1094/phyto-12-22-0457-v

Plant Production and Health

Agronomy; Banana; Cassava; Food Security; Maize; Plant Breeding; Plant Diseases; Plant Health; Plant Production; Plantain

Banana Bunchy Top Virus; African Cassava Mosaic Virus; Maize; Necrosis; Potatoes; Sweet Potatoes

Headquarters and Western Africa Hub

Phytopathology