Diseases and Management of Crops under Protected Cultivation

discussions. No doubt the course is very
timely and will deal with a field of study which
is relatively new to India and largely been
neglected in comparison to other disciplines.
Green house technology is more than
200 hundred years old but it was introduced
in India during 1985,s. Protected cultivation
technology in our country went through a
slow pace of expansion in the last 25 years.
It is in its infancy state, the area under green
house cultivation is reported to be about
2000 hectares in India. It can be safely stated
that there exist a vast scope for expansion of
green house technology in India.
The incidence of pest problems under
protected conditions is higher than those in
the open. The green house climate is ideal
for the development of plant diseases. Due to
high value of crops under such conditions, an
economic threshold level of most insects and
disease problem are lower and requires more
monitoring and care. The pest management
option under protected cultivation is often
different than those recommended for the
open field conditions. This necessitates
human resource development with
comprehensive knowledge on this new
emerging area.
plant pathogens and these practices are not
only effective in managing soil pests but also
contribution to the maintenance of soil health
and soil fertility. This is especially important
in the present context because high value
crops are grown under poly houses and we
need high quality produce, while presently we
are highly dependent on chemical pesticides
to control pests and diseases, which poses
serious health threats due to toxic residues in
food stuff. Today we realize that the use of
chemical pesticides will become increasingly
restricted because of concerns for the
environment and health as well as increased
cost of developing new pesticides to
overcome resistance, developed by plant
pathogens and insect pests and the restricted
availability of some bio-control agents for
economic and technical reasons in many
developing countries particularly in India.
I formally inaugurate the event and
congratulate organizing committee for
designing and organizing such valuable
course. I also wish the smooth conduct of this
course.
Thank you
* * * * *
In relation to this particular training
course some innovative eco-friendly
measures i.e. greater use of cultural and
biological practices and organic crop
production need to be emphasized because
the same crops are grown under poly houses
repeatedly and more prone to the soil-borne
ii