The APEC Workshop on Green Control of Major Crop Diseases for Ensuring Food Security, jointly hosted by the Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (IPPCAAS) and the State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests (SKLBPI), co-organized by the Beijing Society for Plant Pathology, was successfully held in Beijing from July 18th to 20th through hybrid virtual and on-site participation. Liu Wenbo, Deputy Director of the Multilateral Cooperation Division, Department of International Cooperation, CAAS, Zhang Jie, Deputy Director General of IPPCAAS, Zhou Xueping, Director of SKLBPI and Liu Wende, Assistant to the Director General of IPPCAAS attended the opening ceremony. The workshop attracted around 100 participants, including representatives from APEC member economies namely Malaysia, Peru, Philippine, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, as well as Egypt, Myanmar, and experts and scholars from domestic research institutes and universities.

Themed with “Enhancing Green Control of Major Crop Diseases to Promote Asia-Pacific Food Security”, four keynote speeches were delivered by Prof. Qian Wei from the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. Liu Wende from IPPCAAS, Prof. Wang Yan from Nanjing Agricultural University, and Prof. Li Guotian from Huazhong Agricultural University, covering topics including “Dissection of the complexity of bacterial quorum-sensing”, “The occurrence and control of Southern Rust (Puccinia polysora) on Corn (Zea mays) in China”, “From microbial effectors to broad-spectrum disease resistance in plants”, and “Gene editing, gene taming, and broad-spectrum disease resistance”. Participants discussed various aspects related to plant immunity, critical mechanisms of pathogen virulence, disease occurrence and impact within APEC member economies, crop disease resistance strategies, comprehensive disease control strategies, so as to explore the latest theories, technologies, and practical experiences in the field of green control of crop diseases with joint efforts, further deepening understanding of crop diseases, exploring new prevention and control methods and promoting sustainable agricultural development in the Asia-Pacific region.

Conducive to enhancing exchanges and cooperation on food security in the Asia-Pacific region, the launching of this workshop supports the implementation of APEC’s The Food Security Roadmap Towards 2030 and the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and thus to ensure food security both Asia-Pacific-regionally and globally.