Agricultural sustainability can be ensured by adopting dynamic plant pathology, pedagogy

Abstract

Plant diseases cause serious economic losses (5–15%/up to 25%) in all sorts of economic crop plants irrespective of cash, industrial, horticultural, ornamental, food, fodder, fibre, spices, plantation, aromatic and medicinal plants and forest trees especially in the tropics and subtropics. Farmers, due to lack of expertise, can neither identify the pathogens nor manage them. They are ignorant of varied symptoms produced by the diseases and the mode of field spread of these diseases. Knowledge of the disease cycle and use of resistant varieties are essential for developing effective management strategy against the diseases. Rigorous field training of students/village workers/farmers is the most important pedagogical aspect to ensure sustainability of Indian agriculture. In order to put a long term check on yield/quality losses by overcoming farmer’s ignorance, there is a need to ensure availability of resistant varieties and effective but simple methods of vector control. Intensive training of the farmers through frequent field visits enables them to recognize incidence of the disease and to understand the epidemiological facet of the disease too. Bio agents occurring naturally within the host's environment and crop rotation practices are also helpful. Emphasis is needed to train students in various methods of pathogen detection and to coach a large number of farmer’s team to help them recognize and manage the disease in field. Generally limited number of important diseases and pests affect any crop plant which does not exceed 4–6 and 15–20 respectively in all regions.