Dear Colleagues,

Plant pathogens (i.e., viruses, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and insects) can cause huge crop losses with evident economic impacts. At present, we face several challenges such as population growth, climate change, and limited resources. Sustainability strategies worldwide (e.g., the European Green Deal under the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies and 17 ONU Sustainable Development Goals) emphasize the importance of a resilient agri-food sector and an efficient use of natural resources. To meet these challenges, plant protection represents a key factor in order to develop efficient strategies for disease management. Plant pathogens vary, affecting pathogenicity strategies to overcome plant defenses. For the success of plant protection it is essential to be one step ahead of these pathogens. This is possible by understanding how these infectious agents interact with their hosts, vectors, other pathogens, and the environment. We must also predict how all these drivers will respond to climate change, which can increase disease severity as well as lead to pathogens spreading into new areas. The scope of this Special Issue embraces the following research areas and welcomes  original research articles and reviews. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Agriculture and food security;
• Public policies/phytosanitary measures for agriculture management;
• Biocontrol and green solutions for pest management;
• Interaction of plant pathogens with abiotic stresses;
• Impact of global climate changes in spreading of plant pathogens;
• Reports on plant diseases.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Margarida Espada
Dr. Cláudia S. L. Vicente
Dr. Patrick Materatski
Prof. Dr. Carla Varanda
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Plants is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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• food security
• plant pathology
• plant disease management
• crops
• biotic and abiotic stresses
• diagnosis
• control
• global climate changes
• modeling
• next-generation sequencing