Handbook Of Plant Disease Identification And Management

Handbook of Plant Disease Identification and Management presents the fundamentals of plant diseases identification based on symptomology and management focusing mainly on integrated pest management approach. It discusses a variety of techniques for the diagnosis of crop disease, losses due to crop diseases, and theories behind disease management. It describes how society is constraining the possibilities for management of crop diseases by changing the environment; biologically controlling crop diseases; and the epidemiologic and genetic concepts of managing host genes. This book discusses managing diseases through diverse chemical, biological, and physical methods. It highlights climatic factors affecting crops by creating favorable condition for most of the diseases. This book serves as a complete guide for growers, researchers, and graduate students to understand basics of plant disease identification. It explains the disease cycle for respective crops with favorable conditions promoting disease development. It intends to aid growers in managing diseases and help scientists with future research.

Westcott’s Plant Disease Handbook, 7th Edition, should be useful to anyone with a keen interest in gardening. The seventh edition uses the traditional convenient format of previous editions providing easy access to essential information quickly with special dictionary-type entries on plant hosts and on symptoms. It provides useful cross references, indexes, illustrative plates of 34 key diseases, and 40 black and white illustrations of other diseases. New and updated material includes: significant taxonomic changes in fungi, bacteria, viruses and nematodes, and recently discovered diseases and new hosts for previously known plant-pathogens.

Plant diseases are among the important factors that are responsible for causing yield loss in crop production. The loss due to diseases alone is estimated to be around 26 per cent. Diseases may attack at any stage of the standing crop, from seedlings till maturity of the crop. They may affect different parts of the plants, such as foliage, stem, root, flowers or seed and cause various types of symptoms, while the diseases such as wilt affect the entire plant. All these ultimately result in the reduction of yield and poor quality of the produce. Further, many pathogens continue to attack the stored grains and stored produce, and cause spoilage. To save the crops from diseases caused by pathogens and thereby to increase crop production, it is imminent that diseases have to be controlled by any means. To adopt various strategies for the control of pathogens, one should have some basic knowledge about the symptoms produced by the pathogens, their life cycle, mode of survival and spread, and the stage at which the host is most vulnerable to attack by the pathogens. Most of the cultivated varieties of different crops are susceptible to one disease or another, while some others are susceptible to many diseases. Even resistant cultivars of some of the crop species may become susceptible to some specific diseases in course of time as a result of development of new physiologic races of the pathogen by hybridization or natural mutation or when the environmental conditions are highly favorable for the pathogen and not quite favorable for the host. In this book the authors have given a detailed account of the major diseases of important field crops and horticultural crops, and their management. The text is substantiated with many hand-drawn illustrations, which are of excellent quality and in fact it is the highlight of the book. A on important edible mushrooms commonly grown in India, methods of cultivation of different mushrooms, diseases and pests attacking mushroom beds and mushrooms is also included in the book. This may be quite useful to emerging entrepreneur The book, which has been compiled as per the undergraduate syllabus of agricultural institutions, will also be of use to postgraduate students and to those working in the department of agriculture.

It was a compliment to me to be asked to prepare the fourth edition of Westcott's Plant Disease Handbook, and the decision to accept the responsi bility for the fourth edition and now the fifth edition was not taken lightly. The task has been a formidable one. I have always had a great respect professionally for Dr. Cynthia Westcott. That respect has grown considerably with the completion of the two editions. I now fully realize the tremendous amount of effort expended by Dr. Westcott in developing the Handbook. A book such as this is never finished, since one is never sure that everything has been included that should be. I would quote and endorse the words of Dr. Westcott in her preface to the first edition: "It is easy enough to start a book on plant disease. It is impossible to finish it. " This revision of the Handbook retains the same general format contained in the previous editions. The chemicals and pesticides regulations have been updated; a few taxonomic changes have been made in the bacteria, fungi, and mistletoes; the changing picture in diseases caused by viruses and/or viruslike agents has been described. A few new host plants have been added, and many recently reported diseases as well as previously known diseases listed now on new hosts have been included. In addition, photographs have been replaced where possible, and the color photograph section has been retained.

Every year we see a remarkable increase in scientific knowledge. We are learning more each day about the world around us, about the numerous biological organisms of the biosphere, about the physical and chemical processes that shaped and continue to change our planet. The cataloging, retrieval, dissemination, and use of this new information along with the continued development of new computer technology provide some of the most challenging problems in science as we enter the Information Age. With the explosion of knowledge in science, it is especially important that students in introductory courses learn not only the basic material of a subject, but also about the newest developments in that subject. With this goal in mind, we have prepared a second edition of Introduction to Plant Diseases: Identification and Management. We prepared this edition with the same general purpose that we had for the first edition - to provide practical, up-to-date information that helps in the successful management of diseases on food, fiber, and landscape plants for students who do not have a strong background in the biological sciences. We included new information on (1) the precise identification of diseases and the pathogens that cause them, (2) the development of epidemics of plant diseases, (3) the application of biotechnology in plant pathology, (4) the use of alternative methods of crop production and disease management that help protect the environment, and (5) diseases that have become more important since the first edition was published.

Proper identification of a problem is the prerequisite for devising the measures of its management as well as for applying the most suitable management strategy available. Plant diseases have always been an associated problem for successful crop cultivation and obtaining optimum profits from this most important enterprise. With advancements in the field of chemical management of plant diseases, we have witnessed a simultaneous increase in the problems related to pesticide application in agriculture. Part of this problem can be attributed to the improper identification of plant diseases, which leads to the use of improper chemical in injudicious amounts. It has, therefore, become necessary to aware the people involved in education, extension and practice of agriculture of proper characterization of plant diseases with the most appropriate management strategy for the disease. In this context, students, extension workers and farmers stand the major clients who must be armed with information on proper identification method and management of a given plant disease. The present book is designed to cater to the needs of undergraduate and postgraduate students of agriculture and biosciences, extension workers and educated progressive farmers. It is aimed to aid them in proper identification of many of the economically important plant diseases with integrated strategies for their respective management. The book may also serve as a guidebook for the professionals in the field of plant disease management for identification and management of plant diseases with minimal resource requirements

An encyclopaedic treatment of plant diseases in Europe, this book is designed as a standard reference volume for the general working plant pathologist and those taking advanced training in plant pathology. It provides a clear, informed and authoritative summary of each entry by an appropriate specialist, with a selection of key references for further reading. The handbook covers the economic diseases of crops and forest trees in Europe, treated by pathogen and classed as pathogens of major, moderate and minor importance. Approximately 1000 organisms are covered in total, including 600 fungi, 100 bacteria, and 300 viruses and similar organisms