New real-time tools for monitoring diseases and fungicide resistance to support a smart and sustainable crop protection platform in Brazil

Emerging plant pathogens are described as pathogens that: (i) have been recently discovered or described; (ii) have recently evolved; (iii) have increased in incidence, expanded geographically or broadened their host range; and (iv) have changed their pathogenic properties. An emerging pathogen may be a new virus, bacterium or fungus with the potential to become endemic, epidemic or even pandemic. Plant-pathogenic fungi, in particular, are known to cause high yield losses in agricultural crops, with consequent economic impact, and devastating new fungal diseases are constantly emerging in agroecosystems. South American agriculture is particularly vulnerable to the emergence of plant pathogens. Because our understanding of the risk of pathogen emergence in agroecosystems is still limited, strategies for monitoring, surveillance and risk prediction must be developed.