Seed Health Management for Better Productivity - Govind Ballabh ...

(Seed Health Management for Better Productivity)Integrated Disease Management for Vegetable Seed ProductionS.N. VishwakarmaDepartment of Plant Pathology, G.B.P.U.A.&T., Pantnagar-263145 (Uttarakhand)Vegetable are important source of dietary, minerals and vitamins. All the developed anddeveloping countries realize the importance of vegetables as an essential diet due to medicinaland nutritional value for human health. There is steady upward trend in vegetable production.China is ranking first in world and currently produces 237 million tons of vegetables. India has aquantum jump in vegetable production securing the second positions in the world. The totalproduction of vegetable is more than 91 million tons in the country. In spite of this, the productivityof vegetable per unit area is very low. Thus the produces at present is approximately half of therequirement as per dietary standard against 250-300gms/ day/adult. Vegetable being moresucculent and rich in nutrient are more prone to disease infection, thereby incurring high yieldlosses during pre and post production period. Disease pressure in vegetable crop from seedlingstage to harvest caused by mainly fungi, bacteria and virus are the most important constraints forlow production of vegetable seeds.Management of vegetable diseases-An over view:The survey of literature reveals that vegetables either grown directly or throughtransplanted seedling suffer from a variety of biotic, mesobiotic and abiotic causes. Controlmethods invariably recommended includes cultural practices, host resistance, chemical control,physical and biological control methods. Individually different methods have been recommendedfor management of different disease, but among the recommendation application of pesticides isreally high and thereby posing problems of residue poisoning, pest resistance and economic.Under this situation application of integrated disease management (IDM) appears mostappropriate as production is to increase and harmful effect of pesticide is to decrease.Integrated Disease Management (IDM):The philosophy, principles and objective of IDM state that “A desirable approach to theselection, integration and use of methods on the basis of their anticipated economic, ecologicaland sociological consequences”. Under the concept of disease management reduction in lossescause to vegetable must take into account that following criteria for developing IDM schedules:• Develop the schedule which is economical. The cost of application and loss due to diseasemust be proportionately balanced in favour of producers.• The schedule development fit in the production protection schedules practiced by thegrowers.• The schedules developed must strive to manage most pest and disease simultaneously inthe crop concerned.• To ensure success the IDM schedule in the vegetables need to be applied as communityprogramme and /or cooperative programme.- 93 -