Plant Pathology
Plant Pathology
Plant Pathology Research: The plant pathology research conducts both basic and applied research on major diseases of mandate crops of MARC. These include:
Learn More- Vegetable diseases (purple blotch and downy mildew of onion, early and late blight, bacterial leaf spot, powdery mildew of tomato, wilt diseases, anthracnose, powdery mildew and viruses of pepper, rust and gray leaf spot of snap beans)
- Fruit crops diseases (leaf and fruit spot, anthracnose, dieback, wilt, canker and fruit rot of citrus, black spot, powdery mildew, anthracnose, dieback and ring spot virus of papaya, cigar- end rot, sigatoka, anthracnose and wilt disease of banana, root rot, pjytophthord, anthracnose, cercospora and powdery mildew disease of avocado; powdery mildew and anthracnose of mango)
- Sorghum diseases (smuts, anthracnose, grain molds, oval leaf spot, rust, downy mildew and bacterial streak)
- Maize diseases (rust, leaf blight, maize leaf necrosis)
- Lowland pulses diseases (rust, common bacterial blight, halo blight, angular leaf spot, aschochyta blight and anthracnose)
The commencement of horticultural and lowland pulses research for increased production and productivity at the then Nazareth Research Station (now Melkassa Agricultural Research Center, (MARC) in 1969 necessitated the establishment of plant pathology research to address disease problems associated with these crops. Plant pathology research over the years focused on the most important vegetable crops (tomato, pepper, and onion), fruit crops (citrus, avocado, mango, banana and papaya), lowland pulses (common bean, cowpea and mung bean) and cereals (sorghum). These crops are affected by several foliar, stem, fruit, seed and soil-borne diseases. These diseases have been known for their global and regional importance depending on the environmental conditions that support their distribution and epidemic development. Different plant pathological research undertakings (disease surveys, management options, epidemiological and yield loss studies on major diseases of specific crops) have been made in the mandate area of MARC and other parts of the country. The objectives of the research undertaking were to avail scientific information with regard to the status of diseases, their importance and disease management options.
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A number of plant diseases on these mandate crops grown across different agro-ecologies have been identified and reported. Survey and diagnosis of these diseases were the primary focus of the research since the commencement of research program in plant pathology. As a result, periodical diseases surveys have been carried out with the objectives of describing the geographic distribution, relative importance and epidemiology of these major diseases of the mandate crops.
Diseases management practices including cultural, botanical control, heat treatment, host plant resistance, application of fungicides, and combinations of all these in a form of integrated disease management have been developed against the major diseases of the mandate crops.
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