Biocontrol and community studies
Plant disease is caused by the close interaction between the pathogen and its host, but this interaction is mediated by other organisms, eg. fungi, bacteria and animals that share the same environment.
The challenges of maintaining high rice yields with sustainable agricultural practices are met by working actively with the microbial community (photo by Nils Högberg).
Pathogen survival, growth and infection potential are controlled by the physical and biotic environment. In agriculture, the choice of farming system will affect which organisms that are affected. Increased knowledge about how organisms are affected in different situations and how they in turn affect plant disease can be used to design long term sustainable farming systems. Such systems may allow reduced doses of fungicides. One example may be crop rotation where pathogens that are specialised to one host will be less competitive when its favourite host is rotated with other crops. Other means of increasing the plant beneficial flora may include tillage strategies, addition of compost and changes in soil mineral components for example calcium content.