Science of Phytopathology or Plant Pathology and Its Importance
- Plant protection has been accepted as broad area of research and technology at the national level by the Indian Council Agricultural Research, New Delhi; and Plant Pathology is an important discipline of Plant Protection.
Plant Pathology- Definition
- Plant Pathology, also known as Phytopathology is a branch of agricultural, biological or botanical science which deals with the study of diseases in plants - their causes, etiology, epidemiology, resulting losses and management.
Relation to other Sciences
- Plant pathology is related to many other sciences such as virology, mycology, bacteriology, microbiology, physiology, chemistry, genetics, biotechnology etc., all of which provide the knowledge required for the correct diagnosis and management of plant diseases.
Objectives of Plant Pathology
- To study living, non-living and environmental causes of diseases or disorders of the plants.
- To study the mechanism of plant disease development.
- To study interaction between host/susceptible and the pathogens.
- To develop systems of management of plant diseases and reducing losses caused by them.
Importance of Plant Diseases or Plant Pathology
- Losses they cause.
- About 34% of the crop produce is lost annually due to diseases, insect-pests and weeds on the global basis (Cramer, 1967); out of which, 12% is lost due to diseases (caused by fungi, bacteria or viruses), 11% due to nematodes, 7% due to insect-pests and 3% due to weeds.
- When plant protection measures are not implemented, annual loss of 30-50% are common in major crops including horticulture (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2002)
Epidemics
- Late blight of potato caused by Phytophthora infestans was responsible for causing Irish famine in 1845 by destroying the potato crop, the staple food of the people.
- Hundreds of thousand people died of hunger and disease, and there was a large scale migration of the population to other countries including North American continent.
- The population of Ireland was 8 million in 1940, which was reduced to 4 million after the famine.
- This single disease forced man to realize the importance of plant diseases, and brought the science of Plant Pathology to lime light.
Other Famines
- Wheat rust epidemics occurred from time to time in many countries. Wheat rusts forced farmers to change their cropping pattern and wheat was replaced by corn or maize or rye.
- Brown spot of rice caused by Helminthosporium oryzae was responsible for Bengal famine in 1943, which many people think one of the reasons for the division of Bengal
- Coffee rust caused by Hemileia vastatrix forced to cut down the coffee plants in Sri Lanka in 1867.
- Powdery mildew of grapevines caused by (Uncinula necator), by 1854, reduced the French wine production by 80 per cent.
- In 1878, the downy mildew caused by Plasmopara viticola ultimately led to the discovery of Bordeaux mixture.
Losses in India
- Wheat rusts cause a loss of Rs. 400 crore annually.
- In the years of epidemics, losses are Rs. 5000 crore or more.
- Loose smut of wheat is estimated to cause an average loss of 3 per cent (about Rs. 500 crore) every year.
- Other plant diseases such as red rot of sugarcane, potato viruses, rice blast and blight, Karnal bunt of wheat, root knot of tomato, eggplant and cucurbits, apple scab, mango malformation, bunchy top of banana and sandal spike are responsible for huge losses.
Effect on Society
- Infected grains or the fruits may contain toxins (such as aflatoxin, fumonosin) which cause insanity, paralysis, stomach disorder and liver cancer.
- The money spent on the management of plant diseases is also a loss because in the absence of diseases this money could be saved.
- There are many other implications on the transport and agro-based industry in the event of plant disease inflicted yield loss.
- There is restriction on the movements of food grains and other agricultural produce due to the threat of quarantine pathogens and pesticide residues in the produce causing further loss.
|
Participants