China loses 14 million tons of grain annually due to pests and diseases.

Reducing losses caused by crop pests and diseases is of great significance for maintaining China’s grain output above 1.3 trillion jin. Emerging agro‑chemical service organizations have gradually become the mainstay of scientific and environmentally friendly pest and disease management in China, effectively addressing the key challenges and pain points in this field.

When people fall ill, they need treatment; when crops are afflicted by pests and diseases, they too require care. This year, influenced by climatic conditions and the invasion of foreign pest sources, crop diseases and pests—such as wheat stripe rust and fusarium head blight, rice’s “two‑migration” pests, the fall armyworm, the oriental armyworm, the corn borer, and red ants—are experiencing a resurgence. Experts estimate that China faces more than 1,600 species of crop diseases, pests, weeds, and rodent infestations each year, with over 100 of these posing serious threats. As a result, annual grain losses due to pests and diseases amount to 14 million tons.

Reducing losses caused by crop pests and diseases is of great significance for achieving this year’s goal of maintaining grain production above 1.3 trillion jin. At present, the battle to safeguard grain yields from pest and disease damage has already begun—a war that can only be won, not lost. China’s plant pests and diseases are characterized by a wide variety of types, severe destructive power, and long cycles, making control particularly challenging. Moreover, small-scale, household‑based farming still dominates, and issues such as rural labor shortages, small landholdings, and low levels of mechanization further complicate pest and disease management. Who will take on the task of pest and disease control? This is a critical question that China must address in its current efforts to protect grain crops.

In recent years, China has been exploring integrated pest and disease management models based on unified prevention and control as well as collaborative prevention and joint control. The country has actively guided and supported new types of socialized plant protection service organizations—such as specialized pest‑control service companies and professional cooperatives—to carry out large‑scale, intensive, and socially organized pest and disease management. These efforts have incorporated a range of measures, including biological, ecological, physical, and chemical methods, while promoting the use of highly effective, low‑toxicity, environmentally friendly pesticides, improving application techniques, and enhancing pesticide utilization efficiency. As a result, grain production costs have been reduced and yields increased, driving green development in the sector. At present, the development of professional, unified pest and disease management across China is thriving, with numerous specialized service firms and professional cooperatives flourishing. According to statistics, in 2020 there were 93,000 such organizations nationwide, and the coverage rate of unified prevention and control for major food crops reached 41.9%.

Today, new‑type socialized plant protection service organizations have gradually become the mainstay of scientific and green pest and disease management in China, effectively addressing longstanding challenges and pain points in this field. First, they have solved the problem of “who will carry out pest and disease control.” Second, they have tackled the difficulties faced by small‑scale, household‑level operations—namely, high costs of pesticide application and limited access to effective solutions. Some of these organizations now manage tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of mu annually; by strengthening partnerships with agrochemical manufacturers, they can secure direct supply and sales of bulk‑packaged pesticides. Third, they have raised the level of mechanization in grain crop protection. Although China’s mechanization rate for sowing, cultivation, and harvesting has exceeded 80%, geographic constraints continue to keep mechanization in plant protection relatively low. In response to economic considerations, these socialized service providers widely adopt high‑efficiency machinery and agricultural drones: a single piece of plant protection equipment can cover roughly 50 mu per day, while an agricultural drone can handle about 500 mu daily, compared with a maximum of around 5 mu per day for a single laborer. Fourth, by promoting precision‑application technologies and green pest‑management practices, they have significantly reduced off‑target spraying and excessive use of inputs, helping to achieve the goal of reducing pesticide consumption. In practice, some farmers exhibit weak awareness of proper pesticide use, leading to over‑application, indiscriminate spraying, and the routine use of “insurance” treatments—practices that result in environmental contamination and residues exceeding regulatory limits.

As the level of agricultural modernization continues to rise, China has progressively established a modern plant protection and disaster prevention–mitigation system, developing a comprehensive set of well‑honed response strategies that enable nationwide coordinated efforts to control pests and diseases. Nevertheless, in some regions, persistent issues such as farmers’ entrenched traditional pest‑control practices, inadequate integration of chemical inputs and machinery, disputes over treatment quality, and outstanding payments for pest‑control services continue to hinder effective pest and disease management.

Only by proactively supporting and helping agricultural pest‑control service organizations grow stronger and more robust, continuously expanding the coverage of professional, unified prevention and control, and mounting decisive campaigns to curb wheat’s “two diseases and one pest,” launching tough battles to manage rice’s “two pests and two diseases,” and waging a determined offensive against the fall armyworm in corn, can we do everything possible to sustain the favorable momentum of grain production and secure an abundant harvest for the year.

Source: Liu Hui, Economic Daily reporter