Study: Climate fuelling Southeast Asian pests, migration to China threatens rice yields, food security

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Migratory rice pests thriving in mainland Southeast Asia due to climate change could threaten regional rice yields, researchers from Peking University and international partners reportedly found. — Reuters pic

By Malay Mail

Tuesday, 06 May 2025 4:43 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — Migratory rice pests thriving in mainland Southeast Asia due to climate change reportedly could threaten rice yields across the region, including in southern China.

According to a report in South China Morning Post (SCMP), the findings were by a study led by researchers from Peking University in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Zhejiang University, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany and the Laboratory of Dynamic Meteorology in France.

The researchers, whose paper was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Food, found that during El Niño years, warm, humid conditions created favourable breeding environments for pests in Southeast Asia.

Wind gusts then helped these pests migrate northward to southern China, where they contributed to rice yield losses.

“Continued global warming will not only change the ecological niches of pests but also facilitate the increasing occurrence of crop pests, posing a major obstacle to stabilising food production,” the research team was quoted as saying.

The scientists reportedly said international collaboration was essential to reducing the impact of such pests, warning that pest control efforts in affected countries alone would be ineffective without similar efforts in regions where the pests come from.

“Even if pest-receiving countries spare no effort to control pest occurrence, it would not be effective or cost-effective if there is a lack of pest control in pest-donating or pest-breeding countries,” they said.

While the impact of natural hazards on agricultural production often balances out over time and across different regions — with imports from unaffected areas compensating for localised losses — the researchers warned that a large-scale, synchronised reduction in rice production across Asia would be difficult to offset.

The researchers also emphasised that understanding how pests proliferate under changing climate patterns is critical to developing strategies that can help mitigate the risk of a regional food crisis.

The findings were based on analysis of data from 1980 to 2017.

Rice planthoppers and rice leaf folders were identified as key pests migrating from Southeast Asia to southern China.

Lead author Wang Chenzhi, a senior researcher at the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research in Germany, reportedly said that with global warming accelerating, cooperative approaches were essential for protecting regional food security and safeguarding the livelihoods of farmers across mainland Southeast Asia.

The researchers emphasised the urgent need for cross-border pest management, highlighting the importance of a joint monitoring and alert system for pest outbreaks, information sharing on common pests, training programmes for local farmers, and coordinated pest control strategies, including the targeted use of insecticides.