Plants, one of the major source for maintaining a healthy environment,
has numerous functions and it provides a lot for the sustainability of
life. Just like humans and animals, plants can also be affected by infectious
diseases and get feeble. These diseases are caused by living organisms
called plant pathogens which include fungi, bacteria, viruses and parasitic
plants. They can also be caused by non-living abiotic components such
as air pollution, nutrient deficiencies and various environmental factors.
Plant diseases are constant threat to the world's food and fiber crops,
forests and landscape plants. So it is very important to keep the plants
healthy as it is the base of our food chain and hence comes the significance
of plant pathology.
Plant pathology, also known as phytopathology, deals with the study
of diseases in plants and is one of the sub branches of plant protection
science. Plant protection science is the branch of agricultural science
which studies the ways to keep plants healthy by protecting them from
various damages especially with an aim of higher production. Plant entomology
or entomology (the study of insects), plant nematology or nematology (the
study of nematodes or roundworms) and weed sciences are the other sub
braches of plant protection science.
Plant pathology is an apt career for those who have a keen interest in
agricultural and biological fields. The studies in plant pathology mainly
focus on plants mounting; understanding the organisms and agents that
cause diseases; how the plants are affected by the diseases and how to
control plant diseases. The field of plant pathology is interrelated to
other biological fields such as microbiology, mycology, biochemistry,
bio-informatics, virology etc.
People who specialize in the field of plant health is termed as plant
pathologist. Professionals in the field of plant pathology deals with
plants as well as insects, fungi, virus, phytoplasmas like bacteria and
parasites that causes diseases in plants. The major task of a plant pathologist
is to keep the plants healthy by preventing, controlling and stopping
the diseases infected by them and for this, they have to develop innovative
ways. They try to control the disease by useful methods such as developing
medicines, altering the conditions in the environment etc. Graduation
or post graduation in biological science with required personal skills
such as analytical and observation abilities will help an aspirer to start
a prospective career in plant pathology.
