The 12th of May is the UN International Day of Plant Health, an opportunity to raise awareness on the importance of plant health in our daily lives. Many celebrations occur every year all over the world.

In 2020 the Plant Health TV video contest was organized by the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM-Bari) and the Euphresco network for phytosanitary research coordination and funding. 

The video, prepared by Mathieu Bayot explains how in South-West China farmers do not use any fungicides, yet rice is surprisingly well protected from epidemics. Researchers have found that one of the main diseases caused in rice by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae is present in the plots, but the level of disease remains very low. The use of two varieties of rice have led to the existence of two specialist populations of fungus unable to fight on all fronts.