Diseases of Plantation Crops and Their Management

Description

Disease play a very crucial role in the production of plantation crops. Plantation Crops are defined as a group of commercial crops of (i) perennial nature, (ii) cultivated extensively in tropical and subtropical situations which (iii) need employment of labour throughout the year and the produce of which is usually consumed after processing. Plantation crops may be defined as ‘tropical crops grown on a large scale by a uniform system of cultivation under central management. In general ‘Plantation crops are those cultivated on an extensive scale in large contiguous area owned and managed by an individual or a company. Again in the ICAR, the nodal research organization in the country the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute has been dealing with coconut, arecanut, oil palm, palmyrah palm and cashew. Even Oil Palm, a plantation crop with similar growth habit, upkeep like coconut (which also yield oil) is often erroneously clubbed with oil seed crops. Many examples exist of where one or more species of either indigenous or exotic pests or diseases have caused devastating losses to forests, requiring changes in management regimes or forcing forest managers to switch to alternative tree species. Description on important disease include the symptoms, aetiology, host pathogen interactions, environmental relationship and integrated disease management.