Plant Diseases and Their Management in Organic Agriculture

About this book

Managing diseases in organic cropping systems is a major challenge to growers in every country who must meet rigorous restrictions. And depending on the crop and climatic region, organic production methods can vary greatly.

Plant Diseases and Their Management in Organic Agriculture is the first comprehensive book that fully addresses the systems approach to organic plant disease management and is a must for any researcher, student, or practitioner involved in organics research, organics production, or regulation. And it is truly an international collaboration with contributing scientists from North America, the West Indies, Europe, and Africa.

The editors have assembled an expert team of authors who:
- Define many terms of the organic arena, as well as trends, regulations, and the many practices in organic agriculture throughout the world.
- Offer an overview of organic production methods, principles, and the various farming systems that affect microbial habitat conditions and, in turn, pathogen fitness and plant resistance. Systems and methods cover rotations, irrigation, resistance breeding, diversification strategies, and more.
- Explain the role of diseases in organic systems and how they are affected by the system itself, particularly in terms of bacterial and fungal pathogens (air- and soilborne), nematodes and viruses.
- Cover the general approaches and methods used for plant disease management in organic agriculture, including rotations, irrigation, resistance breeding, diversification strategies, seed health, direct control of airborne and soil borne pathogens, and chain management.
- Present nine case studies to illustrate the many management methods available in real-world agricultural settings. These case studies feature cropping systems for potatoes, small grains cereals, rice, leguminous crops, vegetables, apples, grapes, bananas and coffee.

Plant Diseases and Their Management in Organic Agriculture offers valuable, detailed information that helps users truly understand various organic farming systems and their effects on plant diseases, nutrients, soil fertility management, habitat management, and diversification strategies. Equally detailed color photographs of plant disease symptoms helps users visually identify a range of diseases that affect their crops, making this book a useful diagnostic aid, as well.

Plant Diseases and Their Management in Organic Agriculture is written by researchers and practitioners of organic plant protection who are bringing together decades of hands-on research and farming experience. It is a much needed addition to the textbooks on ecological agriculture and agroecology used by students, researchers and extension staff as well as for interested farmers, consultants, and other practitioners involved in organic agriculture.

It is not only of value for organic farming but will also be an inspiration for innovative research into other agricultural systems based on ecological methods.

Contents

Foreword
   Nicolas Lampkin and Sally Miller
Preface
   Maria Finckh, Ariena van Bruggen, and Lucius Tamm

Part 1. General Introduction
General Introduction
   Maria R. Finckh and Ariena H. C. van Bruggen

Part 2. Organic Plant Production Practices
General Principles of Organic Plant Production
   Ariena H. C. van Bruggen and Maria R. Finckh
Organic Production of Annual Crops
   Maria R. Finckh and Ariena H. C. van Bruggen
Organic Perennial Crop Production
   Lucius Tamm, Helga Willer, and Ariena H.C. van Bruggen
Organic Greenhouse Production
   Ariena H. C. van Bruggen

Part 3. Plant Diseases in Organic Agriculture
Organic Management and Airborne Diseases
   Maria R. Finckh and Lucius Tamm
Soil Health and Soilborne Diseases in Organic Agriculture
   Ariena H. C. van Bruggen and A. M. Semenov
Diseases Caused by Nematodes in Organic Agriculture
   Johannes Hallmann and Sebastian Kiewnick
Vector-Borne Diseases
   Thomas Felix Döring

Part 4. Plant Disease Management in Organic Agriculture
Introduction to Plant Disease Management in Organic Agriculture
   Ariena H. C. van Bruggen
Crop Rotation
   Carolina Leoni, Walter Rossing, and Ariena H. C. van Bruggen
Water Management
   Steven T. Koike and Michael D. Cahn
Biodiversity Enhancement
   Maria R. Finckh and Martin S. Wolfe
Resistance and Resistance Breeding for Organic Farming
   Walter A. J. de Milliano, Edith T. Lammerts van Bueren, Roeland E. Voorrips, and James R. Myers
Health Management for Seeds and Other Organic Propagation Material
   Eckhard Koch and Steven P. C. Groot
Direct Control of Airborne Diseases
   Lucius Tamm, Bernhard Speiser, and Imre Holb
Direct Control of Soilborne Diseases
   Dan O. Chellemi, Ariena H. C. van Bruggen, and Maria R. Finckh
Organic Food Chain Management
   Ariena H. C. van Bruggen, Eelco Franz, and Gabriela S. Wyss

Part 5. Specific Crops
Organic Potato Disease Management
   Maria R. Finckh, Lucius Tamm, and Christian Bruns
Organic Small Grain Cereal Disease Management
   Maria R. Finckh
Organic Rice Disease Management
   Maria R. Finckh
Organic Temperate Legume Disease Management
   Maria R. Finckh, Tapani Yli-Mattila, Arja Nykänen, Päivi Kurki, and Asko Hannukkala
Organic Vegetable Disease Management
   Steven T. Koike
Organic Apple Disease Management
   Imre Holb, Bart Heijne, and Lucius Tamm
Organic Grape Disease Management
   Lucius Tamm, Ilaria Pertot, and W. Douglas Gubler
Organic Banana Disease Management
   Luis E. Pocasangre, Luis Pérez-Vicente, and Howard Ferris
Organic Coffee Disease Management
   Holger Hindorf, Mekuria Tadesse, Jürgen Pohlan, Odette Weedon, and Maria R. Finckh

Index

Customer Reviews