Plants make up 80 percent of the food we eat. Yet, each year we lose up to 40 percent of food crops because of pests and diseases. This leaves millions of people without enough food to eat and seriously damages agriculture - the primary source of income for poor rural communities. Plants are critical to our food security, which is why the UN declared 2020 the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH). Ralf Lopian, chairperson of the International Steering Committee of the IYPH, explains.
