According to a new study, if the pest rise continues at the current pace then in the next 30 years then the UK will face acute shortage of potato and bread. The study was conducted by the researchers from the University of Exeter.

The researchers have revealed that around 1 in 10 pest types are already present in half the world's crop-producing nations. Climate change can be ruled out as a major reason for this. Besides this, researchers said they are also far behind when it comes to bio-security measures. So, insufficiency of these measures is also a major reason why a lot of species cannot be protected from diseases.

Crop pests pose serious threat to crops like potatoes and wheat. These threats are in the form of bacteria, fungi, insects and viruses, with leaf blotch and powdery mildew posing a threat to wheat. In the case of potatoes, there is a risk from new variants of Phytophthora infestans, which is disfigurement that caused the devastating Irish potato famine of the late 1840s.

Professor Sarah Gurr of University of Exeter and Rothamsted Research sated that she fears that if pests continue to spread at their current rate then a large proportion of the world's biggest food-producing countries will be swamped with pests. In such a scenario, scientists claim that this rise in pests could cause vast bread and potato shortages and will eventually force the nation to change its diet.

Gurr said, "People are absolutely paralysed with fear of diseases like Ebola, but while they are extremely dangerous, the need to tackle crop diseases is just as pressing. We are not spending enough on research, on training, on surveillance and on biosecurity".