Management of Plant Diseases Under Organic Cultivation

Abstract

Organic farming relies on crop rotation, crop residues, animal manures, legumes, green manures, off-farm organic wastes, cultural practices, mineral-bearing rocks and aspects of biological pest control to maintain soil productivity and to supply plant nutrients and to control diseases, insects, weeds and other pests. Most of horticultural crops are eaten fresh or used for health care; hence, any contamination in the form of pesticide/chemical residue may lead to health hazards. The continuous and indiscriminate use of chemical pesticides has posed several serious problems such as pesticide residue, development of resistant strains, environmental pollution and adverse effect on beneficial microorganisms and created a greater concern over global food safety and security; hence, growing them in organic system is most useful. Apart from soil enrichment, different cultural methods such as time/season of sowing, mixed cropping, trap crops, rotations, etc., are followed to avoid occurrence of diseases. Using resistant and tolerant varieties coupled with good agronomic practices helps in reducing initial inoculum and disease development. Recently many botanicals are used to spray crops to keep free from diseases and disease-transmitting vectors. Biocontrol agents such as Trichoderma, Pseudomonas, Bacillus and Paecilomyces are available in different formulations and used to manage various types of diseases in organic production system.