FAO estimates that up to 40% of food crops are lost to plant pests and diseases annually. This leaves millions of people without enough food to eat and seriously damages agriculture.
Healthy plants are a critical resource because of the many ways they support life on Earth. They are the source of the air we breathe, most of the food we eat and natural protectors of the environment.
We are calling on people from all over the world to submit photos that illustrate their idea of healthy or unhealthy plants.
You can submit photos to the following categories:
Two prizes will be awarded for each category: 1) Healthy Plants, and 2) Unhealthy Plants
First Prize: the winner of each category will receive a USD 1,000 voucher to pursue photographic equipment. He or she will also receive a certificate.
Second Prize: the winner of each category will receive a USD 500 voucher to pursue photographic equipment. He or she will also receive a certificate.
Honorable mention and people’s choice: 10 honorable mentions (five per category) and two people’s choice awards (voted by social media users) will receive a certificate. Winning photographs and photographers will be featured on FAO, IPPC, IYPH and National Geographic Italia websites and social media channels.
The IYPH photo contest jurors are: Sherri Dougherty (Photo editor at FAO), John Gilmore (Agriculturist at FAO/USDA-APHIS), Sara Giuliani (Public information specialist at FAO/IPPC Secretariat), Adrian Houston (photographer), Mirko Montuori (IYPH Project Officer at FAO/IPPC Secretariat), and Marco Pinna (Staff and picture editor at National Geographic Italia).
First prize – Healthy plants category
Ciro Schiavone
The sacred wood
The forest as an environment of sacredness due to the importance of large trees, a source of life and an object for humanity.
First prize – Unhealthy plants category
Joseph Moisan-De Serres
European skipper larvae feeding on grass
Three grass skipper larvae feeding on a blade of grass.
Second prize – Healthy plants category
Vanessa Nieves Vazquez
Pandurata en casa
New leaf of a homemade Ficus lyrata that is reborn after a plague, CDMX, Mexico 2020.
Second prize – Unhealthy plants category
Gautam Buddha Mukherji
Sigatoka Leaf Spot Desease
Photo taken at night of an edible banana leaf affected by Sigatoka fungus disease.
People’s choice awards
Sophie Papin
An old chestnut tree in barley crop in the Loire Valley (France) - Spring 2020.
Viet-Cuong Han
Worms eating and dancing on plum leaves
The moment of worms eating and dancing on plum (Prunus mume) leaves captured in May (2020) at Chonnam National University, South Korea.
Honourable mentions – healthy plants category
Karunakaran Parameswaran Pillai
Coconut palm, a multi purpose tree
Coconut palmtop, view from ground- A multi-purpose tree with multiple utilities The coconut tree (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae)- Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.
Helin Ruus
Beach
Windy day near the sea.
Michal Slota
The harmony of nature
Leaves of insectivorous sundew (Drosera anglica) - although this tiny plant usually keeps out of human sight, it plays an important role in the biological balance of peatland ecosystems, accumulating Nitrogen from captured & digested insects.
Evgeny Ivanov
Happy in the sun
A beautiful, green tree pleasing to the eye, Giving all living things the oxygen we need, Nature took care of all living things on earth.
Muhammad Amdad Hossain
Fresh childhood in the beautiful flowers garden in Bangladesh.
Vanessa Nieves Vazquez
South of Chile
Flower that I found in a trip of much contemplation in the city of Osorno, Chile 2017.
Marie François
Vine - Raspberry Grape
Honourable mentions – Unhealthy plants category
Vinodkumar Selvaraj
Infected flower exhibiting artistic symptom of phytoplsama infection in half of the petals.
Phytoplasma infection in chrysanthemum completely turns the floral parts into green leaf like structure. This is a seriously destructive disease causing huge yield loss.
Joseph Moisan-De Serres
Apple maggot fly egg laying
Une femelle de la mouche de la pomme vient tout juste de terminer de pondre un oeuf sous la pelure du fruit.
Oliver Meckes
Pear Rust
Basket- like fruiting bodies of Gymnosporangium sabinae (pear rust) grew out of a pear leaf. Spores (red) are clearly visible. Scanning electron microscope, magnification 15:1 (when 12x12cm wide).
Alfonso Peña Darias
Brevicoryne brassicae
Plant: Purple cabbage. Pest: Brevicoryne brassicae, is important aphid of cabbage. Natural enemige Coccinella septempuntata. 31/03/2020 La Laguna Tenerife.
Bhupendra Singh KHARAYAT
Citrus Canker caused by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Hasse) Vauterin, et al.
Lesions on the leaves first appear as small, round, watery and translucent. As the disease progress, the surface of spot becomes white or grayish and finally ruptures in the center and gives a rough, corky, or canker-like appearance.
Mariano Sayno
Snail invasion
A damage to eggplant by a land snail. Snails and slugs are both part of the same class of creatures called gastropods. It is a pest of many nursery plants, beans and folliage of cabbage, tomato and weeds. Eggplants are commonly attacked by these pests, which eat large amount of the flesh as the fruits mature. Category: Unhealthy Plants Photo taken: June 05, 2020.
Jose Luis Mendez Fernandez
Whiteflies colony
The eggs of whiteflies generally are laid near each other on the food plant, usually on a leaf, in spiral patterns or arcs, sometimes in parallel arcs.
