A new era in plant pathology in Japan: incorporation of the Phytopathological Society of Japan and research reform direc
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PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
A new era in plant pathology in Japan: incorporation of the Phytopathological Society of Japan and research reform directed by genomic studies Tsutomu Arie1 Received: 1 September 2020 / Accepted: 7 September 2020 © The Phytopathological Society of Japan and Springer Japan KK, part of Springer Nature 2020
Introduction When the first reports of an outbreak of the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) came from China at the end of 2019, who would have expected this global and terrible impact? Because we have not been able to prevent the spread of the virus even now in August 2020, careful, restricted behavior is required to prevent infection, and people are feeling crippled. The Phytopathological Society of Japan (PSJ) was forced to cancel the Kagoshima Annual Meeting scheduled for March 2020 and thus unable to give presentations and awards and hold social gatherings. At Kagoshima, although PSJ planned to obtain the final approval of the transition to a general incorporated association, we were unable to do so; however, we finally received the approval by email from the members. The last cancelation of the annual meeting we experienced was in March 2011, which was to be held at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, due to the Great East Japan Earthquake and the accompanying accident at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant #1. Although the damage related to the earthquake was great, the subsequent impact on PSJ was limited. The impact of COVID-19 on PSJ is much greater, and all district meetings in 2020 and the 8th Asian Society for Plant Pathology (ACPP2020) and the 5th Japan-Korea Joint Symposium on Plant Pathology (both was planned to have in September 2020 in Tsukuba) have already been cancelled. And, realizing the possibility that the annual
This article is an abstract of the Presidential Address paper which was going to be presented at the 2020 Annual Meeting of the Phytopathological Society of Japan in Kagoshima * Tsutomu Arie [email protected] 1
Graduate School of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), 3‑5‑8 Saiwaicho, Fuchu, Tokyo 183‑8509, Japan
meeting in March 2021 cannot be held face-to-face, we are starting to create a platform on the PSJ website to hold the meeting online. The year 2020 is the International Year of Plant Health (IYPH) led by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (https: //www.fao.org/plant-healt h-2020/home/en/, accessed 01 Sept 2020). Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concept spearheaded by the United Nations, the premise of the IYPH is to promote the importance of protecting plant health to help end hunger, reduce poverty, protect the environment, and boost economic development. It is a pity that the IYPH has been diminished as COVID-19 directly threatens human health. However, thanks to the farmers and other essential workers involved in food production and plant protection, human beings do not have to worry too much about food supply under such circumstances. This paper is a substitute f
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