To meet the challenge of feeding ever increasing human population, efficient, economical and environment friendly disease control methods are required. Pests are responsible for heavy crop losses and reduced food supplies, poorer quality of agricultural products, economic hardship for growers and processor. Generally, chemical control methods are neither always economical nor are they effective and may have associated unwanted health, safety and environmental risks. Biological control involves use of beneficial microorganism to control plant pathogens and diseases they cause and offers an environmental friendly approach to the effective management of plant diseases. This book provides a comprehensive account of interaction of host and its pathogens, induced host resistance, development of biological control agents for practical applications, the underlying mechanism and signal transduction. The book is useful to all those working in academia or industry related to crop protection.

The papers contained in this book were presented at a NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) held at Cape Sounion, Athens, Greece, 19-24 May, 1991. The twenty-eight more comprehensive papers represent the key subjects of the ARW covered by invited speakers. The thirty-four short papers pre sented in a research format are contributions of those invited to participate in the ARW. There was a total of 70 participants from 21 countries. The objectives of the ARW were as follows: to review current knowledge of biological control of plant diseases and plant parasitic nematodes, with emphasis on mechanisms at the molecular, cellular, organismal, and ecosystem level; to examine and expand on current concepts and synthesize new concepts; to identify and prioritize limitations in the use of biological control for plant diseases and nematodes and the scientific research needed to overcome these limitations; and to develop strategies for biological control through management of resident agents or introduction of natural or modified agents.

Biological disease management tactics have emerged as potential alternative to chemical application for containing crop diseases. Biotic and abiotic biological control agents (BCAs) have been demonstrated to be effective against diseases caused by microbial plant pathogens. Combination of biotic and abiotic agents leads to synergism and consequent improvement in the effectiveness of disease control. It is essential to assay the biocontrol potential of all isolates/species of fungal, bacterial and viral biocontrol agents by different techniques in vitro and under greenhouse and field conditions and to precisely identify and differentiate the most effective isolates from less effective ones by employing biological, immunological and nucleic acid-based assays.

Biological balance; What is biological control?; Biological control in plant pathology; Examples of biological control; Approaches to biological control with antagonistic microorganisms; Role of the pathogen in biological control; Role of the antagonist in biological control; Role of the host in biological control; Role of the physical environment in biological control; Biological control of pathogens of aerial parts; Whither biological control?; Why biological control?.

First Published in 1988, this set offers a comprehensive insight into controlling diseases in plants. Carefully compiled and filled with a vast repertoire of notes, diagrams, and references this book serves as a useful reference for biologists, horticulturalists, other practitioners in their respective fields.

Plant disease management remains an important component of plant pathology and is more complex today than ever before including new innovation in diagnostic kits, the discovery of new modes of action of chemicals with low environmental impact, biological control agents with reliable and persistent activity, as well as the development of new plant varieties with durable disease resistance. This book is a collection of invited lectures given at the 9th International Congress of Plant Pathology (ICPP 2008), held in Torino, August 24-29, 2008 and is part of a series of volumes on Plant Pathology in the 21st Century. It focuses on new developments of disease management and provides an updated overview of the state of the art given by world experts in the different fields of disease management. The different chapters deal with basic aspects of disease management, mechanisms of action of biological control agents, innovation in fungicide application, exploitation of natural compounds and resistance strategies. Moreover, the management of soil-borne diseases and disease management in organic farming are covered.

There is suf?cient need to document all the available data on biological control of rice diseases in a small volume. Part of this need rests on the global importance of rice to human life. In the ?rst chapter, I have tried to show that rice is indeed life for most people in Asia and shortages in production and availability can lead to a food crisis. While rice is cultivated in most continents, biological disease management attains special relevance to rice farmers of Africa, Asia, and also perhaps, Latin America. These farmers are resource-poor and might not be able to afford the cost of expensive chemical treatments to control devastating rice pathogens such as Magnaporthe oryzae (blast), Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (bacterial leaf blight), Rhizoctonia solani (sheath blight) and the virus, rice tungro disease. In an earlier volume that I developed under the title, Biological Control of Crop Diseases (Dekker/CRC Publishers, 2002), I included transgenic crops generated for the management of plant pathogens as biological control under the umbrella of a broad de?nition. Dr Jim Cook who wrote the Foreword for the volume lauded the inclusion of transgenic crops and induced systemic resistance (ISR) as a positive trend toward acceptance of host plant resistance as part of biocontrol. I continue to subscribe to this view.