PLP 302: Crop Diseases and Their Management
Credit Hours: 3 (2+1)
Full Marks: 75 (Theory: 50, Practical: 25)
Course Objectives
Upon completion, students will be able to:
- Identify major diseases in cereal, oilseed, industrial, vegetable, pulse, fruit, plantation crops, and spices.
- Understand causes, symptoms, epidemiology, and disease cycles.
- Suggest proper management practices for crop diseases.
I. Syllabus Overview
- Major crop diseases and their causal agents.
- Epidemiology and disease cycles.
- Disease management practices: cultural, chemical, and integrated approaches.
- Deficiency and disorder diseases.
II. Course Outline
A. Lecture
| S.N. | Topics | No. of Lectures |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Powdery mildew diseases of cucurbits, pea, apple, citrus, etc. | 1 |
| 2 | Downy mildew diseases of cucurbits, crucifers, maize, etc. | 1 |
| 3 | Damping off of seedlings and Rhizoctonia diseases of vegetables and jute | 1 |
| 4 | Purple blotch and Stemphylium leaf blight of onion & garlic, stemphylium blight of lentil | 1 |
| 5 | Root knot of vegetables and cereals, ear cockle of wheat | 1 |
| 6 | Sclerotinia disease of beans, mustard and other crops | 1 |
| 7 | Alternaria leaf spot, club root, white rust of crucifers | 1 |
| 8 | Fusarium wilt of cotton, lentil, arhar, chickpea | 1 |
| 9 | Fusarium wilt of guava & banana, red rot of sugarcane | 1 |
| 10 | Bacterial wilt of solanaceous crops & banana, black rot of cole crops | 1 |
| 11 | Early & late blights of potato & tomato, Phytophthora blight of Colocasia | 1 |
| 12 | Viral diseases of tomato, potato, beans, soybean | 1 |
| 13 | Little leaf of brinjal, yellow vein mosaic of okra, chirki & furki of cardamom | 1 |
| 14 | Pome fruits: apple scab, fire blight, root rot, crown gall | 1 |
| 15 | Collar rot of citrus, apple & papaya | 1 |
| 16 | Citrus root rot, canker, tristeza, greening | 1 |
| 17 | Anthracnose of mango, guava, papaya; malformation of mango | 1 |
| 18 | Red rust of litchi & tea; rust of guava, pea, beans, maize | 1 |
| 19 | Papaya ring spot, banana bunchy top, stem gall of coriander | 1 |
| 20 | Sigatoka leaf spot of banana; leaf spot & blight of strawberry | 1 |
| 21 | Anthracnose of bean, chilli, tomato; leaf spot of chilli, brinjal & groundnut | 1 |
| 22 | Ginger & turmeric: rhizome rot, blast, leaf blotch | 1 |
| 23 | Rice: blast, leaf spot, false smut | 1 |
| 24 | Rice: bacterial leaf blight, bacterial leaf streak | 1 |
| 25 | Wheat: spot blotch, tan spot, loose smut | 1 |
| 26 | Wheat: brown, yellow & black rusts | 1 |
| 27 | Maize: northern & southern leaf blights, gray leaf spot | 1 |
| 28 | Maize: banded leaf & sheath blight | 1 |
| 29 | Deficiency/disorder diseases (mango, paddy, cauliflower, potato, tomato) | 1 |
| 30 | Major diseases of ornamental plants & control measures | 1 |
Total Lectures: 30
B. Practical
| S.N. | Topics | No. of Practicals |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Field visit: identify fungal, bacterial, viral, nematode & nonpathogenic diseases | 1 |
| 2 | Collection, identification & preservation of disease specimens | 1 |
| 3 | Teasing disease samples & identifying causal organisms | 1 |
| 4 | Transverse section cutting to study host-parasite relationship: Helminthosporium, Pyricularia, Puccinia, Uromyces, Protomyces, Alternaria, Cercospora, Fusarium, Colletotrichum, Phytophthora, Peronospora | 5 |
| 5 | Preparation of temporary slides of fungi | 1 |
| 6 | Microscopic & ooze test for bacterial infection | 1 |
| 7 | Identification of plant parasitic & non-parasitic nematodes | 1 |
| 8 | Extraction & observation of various stages of root-knot nematode | 1 |
| 9 | Dilution of chemicals | 1 |
| 10 | Handling & calibration of sprayers | 1 |
| 11 | Preparation of Bordeaux mixture & Bordeaux paste | 1 |
Total Practicals: 15
References
- Singh, R.S. (2005). Plant Diseases, 8th Edition. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co., New Delhi.
- Mehrotra, R.S. & Aggarwal, A. (2003). Plant Pathology, 2nd Edition. Tata McGraw-Hill, New Delhi.
- Verma, L.R. & Sharma, R.C. (1999). Diseases of Horticultural Crops: Vegetables, Ornamentals and Mushrooms. Indus Publishing Co., New Delhi.
- Verma, L.R. & Sharma, R.C. (1999). Diseases of Horticultural Crops: Fruits. Indus Publishing Co., New Delhi.
- Agrios, N. George (2008). Plant Pathology. Elsevier Academic Press, New York & London.
