Course Code : ABF 318

Course Title : Diseases of Crop Plants

Weekly lecture and application hours of the course: 2 -2

Course Description:This course builds on the introductory Plant Pathology course taught in the 5tth semester. It covers the most important fungal,prokaryotic, viral and non-parasitic diseases affecting crops of major economic importance for Cyprus agriculture, including:

  1. Diseases of field crops, including cereals, legumes, industrial, aromatic and medicinal crops.

  2. Diseases of vegetables (including potato) and ornamentals, grown both in the open field and under various systems of protected cultivation.

  3. Diseases of fruit trees and grapevines. For each disease the followingaspects will be presented: description of symptoms, economic damage tothe crop(s) concerned, host range, geographic distribution and aetiology of the disease, bio- ecology of the pathogen(s) involved, epidemiology,and control measures.

The course includes lectures and practicals (lab and field) where the student practices with diagnostics, yield loss assessment, sampling andsample handling and finally pathogen identification in the lab.

Textbooks and supplementary books:

  1. Diseases of Crop Plants by Sumia Fatima and Minakshi Mahajan

  2. Hungry Planet: Stories of Plant Diseases By Gail L. Schumann and Cleora Darcy.

Course Evaluation:

  • Class Participation 10%,

  • Mid-term Examination 30%,

  • Assignments 10%,

  • Final Examination 50%,

Attendance 95%compulsory