Diseases of Vegetable, Ornamental and Spice Crops

COURSE OVERVIEW

India is second largest producer of vegetables after China. Tomato, brinjal, chilli/ bell pepper, bhindi, potato, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, knoll-khol, pea, beans and beet root are some important vegetables which are grown intensively in different parts of India. In the production of spices, India is the largest producer and consumer as well as exporter of spices and their products. Mainly grown spices are onion, garlic, Fenugreek, ginger, turmeric, pepper, Cumin, Cardamom, nutmeg, coriander, Clove and cinnamon. With changing life styles and increased urban affluence, floriculture has assumed a definite commercial status in recent times and during the past 2-3 decades particularly. Rose, Jasmine, Crossandra, Tuberose, Geranium are some of the important ornamental crops. Diseases have become serious constraints in the cultivation of vegetables, spices and ornamental crops. For example, in some of vegetables, the accumulative losses have been worked out to be as high as 50 per cent and in certain diseases even complete crop failure can not be ruled out. The diseases not only reduce the quantity but also the quality of the produce. Diseases are caused by various organisms like fungi, bacteria, virus, phytoplasma and others. The present course aims to give an overview of disease symptomatology, etiology, epidemiology, and management including host resistance, cultural biological and chemical methods.