Diseases of Field Crops and their Management

To meet the food demands of ever increasing human population, agricultural production is being augmented through the use of new crop varieties and changed agronomic practices. These practices have enormously increased the incidence of several pests and diseases. Plant diseases cause serious threats to the successful cultivation of agricultural crops resulting in huge losses in their yields. In the recent past, certain diseases have appeared in epidemic form endangering sustainability in agriculture. The destructive potential of plant diseases in modern day agriculture has increased due to the use of cultivars having narrow genetic base over large areas. Correct disease diagnosis is the prime requirement for recommending preventive or curative measures for effective disease management. Knowledge of perpetuation and spread of the pathogens and various factors affecting disease development is necessary. All the available strategies must be used in an integrated manner and a holistic approach needs to be developed for the management of major diseases of a crop. Information on latest developments in the understanding and management of plant diseases has been compiled in this publication. The book deals with diseases of important cereals, pulses, oilseeds, sugar crops, cotton and fodder crops through 23 chapters. Nematode problems of these crops have been exclusively discussed in one chapter while another deals with mycotoxin contamination in stored grains. Coloured photographs showing symptoms of important diseases are given to help in disease diagnosis. It is hoped that the book will cater to the needs of research workers, teachers and students not only in the discipline of plant pathology but also in other areas of agriculture.