Abstract

Chandra C. Malhotra

Knowledge management promotes an integrated approach to identify, capture, evaluate, retrieve and share information assets for enhanced knowledge processing. Agriculture forms the backbone of rural livelihoods and national economy in South Asia. The food security which largely depends on plant biosecurity in South Asian countries is challenged by devastations in agricultural crops caused by diseases and pests and the problem is further aggravated by the dearth of resources devoted to their management. The geographical location, climatic suitability and the diverse agricultural scenario predisposes the South Asian region to new/emerging native pests and diseases many of which have a potential to establish and cause serious economic losses. The region, with its high population and increasing trade, thus requires a proper knowledge management in biosecurity encompassing available information and programmes on regulatory, technical and infrastructural parameters at one platform. The knowledge management in plant biosecurity will help in collating and harnessing information for timely and accurate diagnosis of the pest and will be an indispensable tool for developing and implementing an early warning system and a rapid response strategy in case epidemics break out. Also, it will contribute to collate and harness the information on pests and will facilitate capturing the market for export. The South Asia countries need to come on one platform to strategize collectively in this aspect to harness the natural and knowledge resources in the region to ensure an effective plant biosecurity in the region. For this, the countries/organizations need to align their strategies with the knowledge base of the country by keeping pace with technology and using regional bodies as a platform to achieve the objectives.