Plant Disease Epidemiology and Disease Management – Has Science Had an Impact on Practice?

Abstract

Plant disease epidemiology as a sub discipline of plant pathology is concerned with the factors that cause plant epidemics. As such, the association between theoretical or experimental epidemiology and management of plant disease in the field is logical. A large body of literature has demonstrated that epidemiology has served a descriptive and predictive role by identifying and quantifying factors that lead to disease outbreak or cause spatial or temporal increase in disease intensity. However, as several authors have noted, the influence that epidemiology has had on disease management is not always clear, highlighting the need for a better appreciation of the link between theory (and experimentation) and practice. In this chapter, several case studies have been reviewed in which there has been a clear association between epidemiology and disease management. For epidemiological knowledge to influence disease management in practice there must be an effective information flow between researcher and practitioner. In the industrialized countries, this occurs through effective governmental and private institutions, and is increasingly dependent on modern communications technology, including Internet. In developing countries, where institutions are weak or don’t exist, and where communication technology is limited, epidemiologists must seek novel mechanisms for interacting with farmers.