Plant Disease Diagnosis with Special Reference on Traditional and Molecular Methods—An Overview 

By : Chandrama Mukherjee, Debapriya Choudhury, Shinjan Dey, Sikha Dutta

Page No: 219-235

Abstract
Plant diseases are one of the leading causes of crop failures worldwide. The world has witnessed some of the worst accounts of mass starvations incurred by plant diseases, such as the Irish potato famine in the 19th century and the 1943 Bengal famine in India that was precipitated by rice crop failure. Plant diseases lower the product quality or shelf-life of crops, decreasing the nutritional value of vegetables and fruits and reducing crop yields, also making some crops unfit for sale in the market. Loss of crop yield from plant diseases will result in hunger and starvation, especially in less-developed countries where access to disease-control methods is limited and annual losses of 30 to 50 per cent are not quite uncommon for major food crops. The increase in human population will require additional 70 per cent of food by 2050 which demands for an increase in agricultural productivity. This can only be achieved by the effective management of plant diseases. Successful disease control requires thorough knowledge of the causal agent and the disease cycle, host-pathogen interactions in relation to environmental factors, and cost. Although various methods have been used to diagnose pathogens of plant diseases, this article focuses on the traditional and molecular methods of diagnosis. This review discusses the approaches that have been used to identify some of the plant diseases observed in the crops and some other plants.

Authors:
Chandrama Mukherjee: Junior Research Fellow, Applied and Molecular Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Department of Botany, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal,
Debapriya Choudhury: Senior Research Fellow, Applied and Molecular Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Department of Botany, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal,
Shinjan Dey: Senior Research Fellow, Applied and Molecular Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Department of Botany, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal,
Sikha Dutta: Professor, Applied and Molecular Mycology and Plant Pathology Laboratory, Department of Botany, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal, India.
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/JPSR.2025.41.02.3