ARS | Publication request: Sustainable Approaches for Controlling Soilborne Pathogens

Submitted to: International Society for Plant Pathology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: April 15, 2008
Publication Date: August 20, 2008
Citation: Bull, C.T. Sustainable Approaches for Controlling Soilborne Pathogens. Proceeding of the 9th Intenational Congress of Plant Pathology, Torineo, Italy, August 24-29, 2008.

Technical Abstract: Sustainable cropping systems for the purpose of this discussion have three major imperatives: 1) environmental; 2) economic; and 3) social. Plant pathologists have traditionally been concerned with promoting economic sustainability with little regard for the other two imperatives. Thus, almost any approach taken by plant pathologists to control disease has been touted as sustainable if an economic edge is achieved regardless of environmental and social outcomes. The limitations of our training dictate that we must work in interdisciplinary teams to develop sustainable cropping systems. In these teams, plant pathologists bring to the table powerful tools to understand microbe-microbe and plant microbe interactions. It is the context and process in which the knowledge gained is applied to solving disease problems within the cropping systems that will determine if the approach is sustainable or not.