Growing Risk? The Potential Impact of Plant Disease on Land Use and the United Kingdom Rural Economy, 2007-2011

<p>The study is part of the Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) programme.<br> <br>UK crop production is vulnerable to plant diseases that directly affect crop yields, disrupt the food chain and impact on land use and social infrastructure. Diseases of non-food plants perturb our natural environment. Modern farming is heavily influenced by science and technology and includes measures taken to prevent, diagnose, control and deal with the consequences of disease. Recent sociological conceptions of ‘risk society’ argue that we are now faced with ‘manufactured risks’ created by our use of technology and knowledge on the natural world. Until now, a detailed study of current and future risks posed by crop and non-crop diseases to land use and the rural economy has not been conducted. The aim of this Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) funded project is to develop an interdisciplinary appraisal of the potential impacts of plant diseases and to consider aspects of an holistic approach to policy formulation. Such an initiative is very timely given the recent wave of ‘future studies’ by Think Tanks and various rural government departments to better understand potential impacts and thus avoid creating a scenario where farming and food production are regarded as an industry of growing uncertainty and risk. A balanced programme of work has been devised to include case study examples of contemporary diseases, including diseases transmitted either primarily by trade dissemination (Ramorum dieback and mushroom virus X) or by natural transmission (potato blight and Septoria/tan spot of cereals), and will include both food and non-food crops.<br> <br>Further information for this study may be found through the <a href="https://www.researchcatalogue.esrc.ac.uk/grants/RES-229-25-0013/read" target="_blank" style="">ESRC Research Catalogue webpage: Growing risk? The potential impact of plant disease on land use and the UK rural economy.</a><a href="http://relu.data-archive.ac.uk/explore-data/search-browse/project/?ID=RES-229-25-0013" title="RELU Knowledge Portal: Assessing the potential rural impact of plant disease"></a></p>

本研究隶属于乡村经济与土地利用（RELU）项目。<br><br>英国作物生产极易受到植物病害的影响——此类病害会直接降低作物产量、破坏食物链，并对土地利用与社会基础设施造成冲击。非食用植物病害则会扰乱自然环境。现代农业深受科学技术的影响，涵盖了预防、诊断、防控及处置病害后果的各类举措。近年来，社会学界关于“风险社会（risk society）”的理论指出，当下我们正面临着因人类对自然世界运用技术与知识而产生的“人为制造的风险（manufactured risks）”。迄今为止，尚未有针对作物与非作物病害对土地利用及乡村经济构成的当前与未来风险展开的详细研究。本由RELU资助的乡村经济与土地利用研究项目，旨在对植物病害的潜在影响开展跨学科评估，并探讨构建整体性政策制定框架的相关路径。鉴于近期智库与各农村政府部门掀起了一股“未来研究”浪潮，以求更好地认知潜在影响，从而避免出现农业与粮食生产被视为不确定性与风险日益加剧的产业的局面，此番举措恰逢其时。项目已规划了均衡的工作方案，将纳入当代病害的案例研究示例，包括主要通过贸易传播的病害（栎树猝死病（Ramorum dieback）与蘑菇病毒X），以及自然传播的病害（马铃薯晚疫病与谷类壳针孢/颖枯病（Septoria/tan spot of cereals）），研究对象同时涵盖食用与非食用作物。<br><br>本研究的更多信息可通过<a href="https://www.researchcatalogue.esrc.ac.uk/grants/RES-229-25-0013/read" target="_blank" style="">经济和社会研究理事会（ESRC）研究目录网页：《风险渐增？植物病害对土地利用及英国乡村经济的潜在影响》</a><a href="http://relu.data-archive.ac.uk/explore-data/search-browse/project/?ID=RES-229-25-0013" title="RELU知识门户：《评估植物病害的乡村潜在影响》"></a>