Diseases of Economically Important Horticultural Crops

In Indian economy horticulture has emerged as one of the most potential agriculture enterprise in terms of growth acceleration. Its role in the nutritional security, poverty alleviation and employment generation is becoming increasingly important. It offers a wide range of options for crop diversification and also provides huge scope for sustaining large number of agro based industries which generate employments. Roughly estimates have suggested in India, on an average loss of about 25% in crop yield takes place due to plant pathogens like fungi, bacteria, viruses, viroids, virusoids, mollicutes and protozoa and unfavorable environmental conditions such as lack or excess nutrients, moisture, light etc. Losses caused by insect-pests and diseases in horticulture crops have special relevance in our country where much still needs to be done in the modernization of control measures against plant diseases. Due to considerable progress made in many aspects of plant diseases of horticultural crops during last few years, plant pathology should receive relatively more attention and importance in syllabi of under graduation and post graduation levels. There are several books of foreign and Indian origin on only descriptive aspects and is beyond the purchasing capacity of most of our students. Therefore, attempts have been made in this book “Diseases of economically important horticultural crops” to deliver the core of the subject in a concise, easily assimilated form designed to help the students and researchers working on horticultural crops with the help of our distinguished contributors. Our contributors were specialists of respective horticultural crops and they responsibly contributed their best to provide detailed information of various diseases and their management in chapters contributed by them. In this volume most diseases of the important horticultural crops have been described. It may be useful to those students doing graduation and postgraduate in Horticulture and Agriculture, studying courses on Diseases of horticultural crops, Diseases of vegetable crops, Diseases of spices and ornamentals plants etc. This book covers chapters on important horticultural crops of different categories including economic importance, symptoms, disease cycle and management etc. This book provides latest information and updated disease management practices.