Advances in Soil Borne Plant Diseases

This book is an attempt to provide a comprehensive, up-to-date review and synthesis of various aspects of soil-borne plant diseases, taking stock of the current state of the art in soil-borne plant pathogens. The book features contributions from experts at various national laboratories, research institutes, and universities, who illustrate and review the progress and application of knowledge on soil-borne plant diseases, while also updating readers on recent paradigm shifts in the field, including ecology and epidemiology, disease resistance, solarization, bio-control processes, molecular detection, genomics of bio-control, and the sustainable management of soil-borne diseases. The book also includes special sections on major soil-borne fungal genera, such as Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, Verticillium, Phytophthora, and Sclerotium, as well as endoparasitic nematodes like Heterodera and Meloidogyne, their biology, perpetuation, and population dynamics. Additionally, the book covers important crop-specific soil-borne diseases like those affecting wheat, cotton, and temperate fruits. The recent developments in bio-control, mass production, registration, quality control, principles of solar heating, utilization of mycorrhiza, and the use of on-farm wastes combined with sub-lethal heating and its utility in hot arid regions are also highlighted. The book emphasizes the importance of ecology and economic parameters in the context of integrated disease management (IDM) and covers a range of topics including general plant pathology, microbiology, microbial ecology, biological control, molecular biology, and general biology. This book is an essential resource for knowledge-hungry students, teachers, researchers, policy makers, extension workers, and all those who support farmers and are interested in the latest advancements in the field of soil-borne plant diseases.