INTEGRATED PLANT DISEASE MANAGEMENT (IPDM)

• IPDM involve management systems which utilize compatible combinations of all the available techniques to keep the pathogen population below the economic threshold level (ETL) which would not result in economically unacceptable damage to the crop

Main components of IPDM:

1. Cultural practices
2. Regulatory measures (quarantine)
3. Chemical methods
4. Biological methods
5. Physical methods
6. Genetic engineering

Main strategies of IPDM:

1. Need based application of pesticides
2. Encouragement and enhancement of biocontrol agents
3. Use of resistant or tolerant cultivars of plants
4. Modification of cultural practices
5. Use of any other strategies that interrupts host-pathogen interactions

Advantages of IPDM:

1. Avoids chemical pollution of soil, water, air and food products
2. Avoids development of resistance in the plant pathogens against fungicides
3. It is an eco-friendly strategy for management of plant diseases
4. It is an economically feasible approach
5. It is a multipronged strategy for efficient management of plant diseases