Diseases of Vegetable, Ornamental and Spice Crops

Introduction

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicon) is an important vegetable crop grown globally and consumed as salad, ketchups, sauce, soup, pickles etc. It is also cooked alongwith other vegetables to provide taste and is the basic need of the Indian kitchen. Ripened fruits are good source of ascorbic acid and minerals. The crop is generally grown during winter months (Oct.- April) in the plains of India while in the hills it is mostly grown during summer and rainy season, thus fresh fruits are available round the year in the market. Prevalence of high humidity and warm temperature not only favours the luxuriant growth of the crop but also favours the development of various fungal, bacterial and viral diseases. Under favourable environmental conditions, epiphytotics of certain diseases have often reduced the yields considerably in certain years. Some of the important fungal, bacterial and viral disease problems of tomato are described in these lectures.