CPRT42 (Plant Pathology) Unit 6

• IDM

  
  

  Integrated Disease Management
• IDM

  
  

  • Derived from Integrated Pest Management (IPM) systems
  • Consists of scouting with timely application of a combination of strategies and tactics
• Goal of plant disease management

  
  

  Reduce the economic and aesthetic damage caused by plant diseases
• IDM

  • More multifaceted approaches
  • Single, often severe measures (pesticide applications, soil fumigation or burning) are no longer in common use
• IDM

  • Frequently determined by disease forecasting or disease modeling rather than on either a calendar or prescription basis
• IDM

  
  

  Proactive, traditional
• PDC

  Reactive, "absolute", rigid
• IDM practices

  • Site selection and preparation
  • Utilizing resistant cultivars
  • Altering planting practices
  • Modifying the environment by drainage, irrigation, pruning, thinning, shading, etc.
  • Applying pesticides, if necessary
• Other IDM practices

  • Monitoring environmental factors (temperature, moisture, soil pH, nutrients, etc.)
  • Disease forecasting
  • Establishing economic thresholds
• Balancing fertilizer applications with irrigation practices to promote healthy vigorous plants is an IDM practice
• Whatever the measures used, they must be compatible with the cultural practices essential for the crop being managed
• Correct Diagnosis - of a disease is necessary to identify the pathogen, which is the real target of any disease management program
• A thorough understanding of the disease cycle, including climatic and other environmental factors that influence the cycle, and cultural requirements of the host plant, are essential to effective management of any disease
• Prevention (prophylaxis)

  
  

  Disease management tactics applied before infection (i.e., the plant is protected from disease)
• Therapy (curative action)

  
  

  Any measure applied after the plant is infected (i.e., the plant is treated for the disease)
• Prevention

  • Enforcement of quarantines to prevent introduction of a disease agent (pathogen) into a region where it does not occur
  • Hygiene/sanitation -in greenhouses, install and maintain a foot bath at every entrance; washing of hands thoroughly
  • Start of disease-free plants or planting materials
  • Remove and destroy crop residues (ex. burying) as soon as possible after pruning and harvest
  • Control insects (vectors) and weeds (alternate hosts)
• Therapy

  • Heat or chemical treatment of vegetative material such as bulbs, corms, and woody cuttings to eliminate fungi, bacteria, nematodes or viruses
  • Chemotherapy - application of chemicals to an infected or diseased plant that stops (i.e., eradicates) the infection