Recent advances in crop protection

by P.Parvatha Reddy

Overview

In the recent years, the need to increase food production to meet the demands of rapidly increasing population from a limited land resource necessitated the use of intensive farming systems, with the inputs like narrow genetic base, high dose of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, monocropping, etc. which led to the development of diseases and pest. The effect of changing global climate, particularly the sharp increase in CO2 concentration, has increased the susceptibility of plants to pathogens and pests. Because of the chemicalization of agriculture, the age-old eco-friendly pest management practices like sanitation, crop rotation, mixed cropping, adjustment of date of planting, fallowing, summer ploughing, green manuring, composting, etc. are not being practiced, affecting the crops adversely. This has encouraged researchers to look for eco-friendly and novel approaches for pest management. The information on recent advances in crop protection (involving bacteria, fungi, nematodes, insects, mites and weeds) is scattered. The book delves upon the most latest developments in crop protection such as avermectins, bacteriophages, biofumigation, biotechnological approaches; bio-priming of seeds; disguising the leaf surface; use of non-pathogenic strains, plant defense activators, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria, pathogenesis-related proteins, strobilurin fungicides, RNA interference, and variety of mixtures/cultivar mixtures/multilines; soil solarization; biointensive integrated pest management; among several others (fusion protein-based biopesticides, seed mat technology and environmental methods). This book is a ready reference for students, policy-makers, scientists, researchers and extension workers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788132207221
Publisher:	Springer India
Publication date:	09/14/2012
Edition description:	2013
Pages:	268
Product dimensions:	7.01(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.03(d)

About the Author

Dr P Parvatha Reddy obtained his PhD degree in Plant Pathology jointly from the University of Florida, USA, and the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore. He served as the Director of the prestigious Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) at Bangalore from 1999 to 2002 during which period the Institute was honoured with “ICAR Best Institution Award”. He also served as the Head, Division of Entomology and Nematology at IIHR and gave tremendous impetus and direction to research, extension and education in developing bio-intensive integrated pest management strategies in horticultural crops. Dr. Reddy has about 34 years of experience working with horticultural crops and is involved in developing an F1 tomato hybrid “Arka Varadan” resistant to root-knot nematodes. He has over 237 scientific publications to his credit, which also include 22 books. Dr Reddy has been honoured with the following prestigious Awards: “Association for Advancement Pest Management in Horticultural Ecosystems Award”, “Dr. G.I. D’souza Memorial Lecture Award”, “Prof. H.M. Shah Memorial Award” and “ Hexamar Agricultural Research and Development Foundation Award” for his unstinted efforts in developing sustainable, bio-intensive and eco-friendly integrated pest management strategies in horticultural crops.

Table of Contents

PREFACE 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Emerging pest scenario 1.2. Impact of climate change 1.3. Need for novel approaches to crop protection 1.4. Recent advances in crop protection 1.5. References 2. AVERMECTINS 2.1. Distinguishing characteristics of Streptomyces avermitilis 2.2. Chemical structure of avermectins 2.3. Abamectin 2.4. Mode of action 2.5. Commercial products 2.6. Pest management using avermectins 2.7. Conclusions 2.8. References 3. BACTERIOPHAGES 3.1. What is a bacteriophage? 3.2. Control of bacterial plant diseases 3.3. Biological control 3.4. Early use of phages in agriculture 3.5. Advantages and disadvantages of phage therapy 3.6. Return of phage-based disease management 3.7. Recent approaches for using phages on bacterial diseases 3.8. Disease management using phages 3.9. Phages in integrated disease management strategy 3.10. Other uses of phages in plant pathology 3.11. Commercialization 3.12. Future outlook 3.13. References 4. BIOFUMIGATION 4.1. What is biofumigation? 4.2. Advantages of biofumigation 4.3. Modes of utilization 4.4. Biofumigation crops 4.5. Mode of action 4.6. Disease management 4.7. Nematode management 4.8. Weed management 4.9. Insect management 4.10. Maximizing biofumigation potential 4.11. Future outlook 4.12. References 5. BIOTECHNOLOGICAL APPROACHES 5.1. Role of transgenic crops in agriculture 5.2. Genes in defense against diseases 5.3. Genes in defense against insect pests 5.4. Genes in defense against nematode pests 5.5. Long-term impact of genetically modified plants 5.6. Future trends 5.7. Conclusions 5.8. References 6. BIO-PRIMING OF SEEDS 6.1. What is bio-priming or biological seed treatment? 6.2. Procedure of seed bio-priming 6.3. Disease management using bio-priming 6.4. References 7. DISGUISING THE LEAF SURFACE 7.1. Controlling diseases using film-forming polymers 7.2. Particle films as agents for control of plant diseases 7.3. Disrupting spore adhesion to leaf surface 7.4. Conclusions 7.5. References 8. NON-PATHOGENIC STRAINS 8.1. Involvement of non-pathogenic Fusarium in soil suppressiveness 8.2. Selection of non-pathogenic Fusarium 8.3. Modes of action of non-pathogenic Fusarium 8.4. Histological and cytological studies 8.5. Integration of non-pathogenic Fusarium with other methods 8.6. Production, formulation and delivery 8.7. Future research 8.8. Conclusions 8.9. References 9. PLANT DEFENSE ACTIVATORS 9.1. Biological plant defense activators 9.2. Chemical plant defense activators 9.3. Synergistic manipulation of plant and insect defenses 9.4. Integration of biological and chemical plant activators 9.5. References 10. PLANT GROWTH PROMOTING RHIZOBACTERIA (PGPR) 10.1. Characteristics of an ideal PGPR 10.2. Ways that PGPR promote plant growth 10.3. Strains of PGPR 10.4. Disease management using PGPR 10.5. Nematode management using PGPR 10.6. Mode of action 10.7. Biocontrol mechanisms of PGPR 10.8. Challenges in PGPR research 10.9. Development of formulations 10.10. Modes of delivery 10.11. Future prospects 10.12. References 11. SOIL SOLARIZATION 11.1. Advantages and disadvantages of soil solarization 11.2. Method of soil solarization 11.3. Effects of solarization 11.4. Solarization under different situations 11.5. Factors limiting effectiveness of solarization 11.6. Disease management 11.7. Nematode management 11.8. Weed management 11.9. Insect management 11.10. Integration of solarization with other management methods 11.11. Mode of action 11.12. Strategies to enhance efficacy of soil solarization 11.13. Conclusions 11.14. References 12. STROBILURIN FUNGICIDES 12.1. Spectrum of activity 12.2. Diseases controlled 12.3. Mobility 12.4. Effects on plant health independent of disease control 12.5. Mode of action 12.6. Resistance 12.7. Guidelines for reducing resistance risk 12.8. Commercialization 12.9. Conclusions 12.10. References 13. VARIETY MIXTURES/CULTIVAR MIXTURES/MULTILINES 13.1. Crop monoculture and diversity 13.2. What is a cultivar mixture? 13.3. Variety and species mixtures in practice 13.4. Crops and diseases suited to cultivar mixtures 13.5. Use of cultivar mixtures to manage multiple diseases 13.6. How many cultivars make a good mixture? 13.7. Effect of cultivar mixtures on epidemic development 13.8. Mechanisms of variety mixtures for reducing epidemics 13.9. Effect of cultivar mixtures on evolution of pathogen races or pathotypes 13.10. Mechanisms by which cultivar mixtures suppress disease 13.11. Reported successes with cultivar mixtures 13.12. Agronomic considerations 13.13. Conclusions 13.14. References 14. BIOINTENSIVE INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT 14.1. Integrated pest management (IPM) 14.2. Biointensive integrated pest management (BIPM) 14.3. Case studies 14.4. Transfer of technology 14.5. Conclusions 14.6. References 15. PATHOGENESIS-RELATED PROTEINS (PRs) 15.1. Induction 15.2. Occurrence 15.3. Functions 15.4. Relevance of PRs to disease resistance 15.5. Applications: Brief overview 15.6. Conclusions 15.7. References 16. OTHER RECENT ADVANCES 16.1. RNA interference (RNAi) 16.2. Fusion protein-based biopesticides 16.3. Seed mat technology 16.4. Environmental methods 16.5. References SUBJECT INDEX

Editorial Reviews

From the reviews:

“Reddy (Indian Institute of Horticultural Research) offers an excellent analysis of advances in crop protection methodology. … The key feature of this work is that it provides invaluable information for readers from a cadre of disciplines, not an insignificant accomplishment. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers/faculty, and professionals/practitioners.” (R. Frederiksen, Choice, Vol. 50 (8), April, 2013)

From the Publisher