INTEGRATED DEFENCE AGAINST PATHOGENS

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Academic Year of enrolment:

2013/2014

Type of Course:

Related/Supplementary

Optional/Mandatory:

Optional

Degree:

Master's Degree Programme in AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS

Disciplinary Sector:

Plant Pathology

Language:

Italian

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

MIGHELI Quirico

Hours of classroom activity:

Prerequisites:

Students should have been previously enrolled in a graduate level course in Plant Pathology

AF code:

40004176

Assessment Methods

Verification of learning:

Classroom tests and essay to assess student progress toward specific learning goals during the programme; final oral examination

Teaching period

Second semester

Objectives

At the end of the course students shall have acquired basic knowledge relevant to integrated plant disease management (IPM), aiming at reducing the use of pesticides, hence protecting the environment by preserving both producers' and consumers' health. Special emphasis shall be devoted to the risks/benefits relationship in the different plant protection strategies, to the regulation of trade and application of chemical and microbial control means and to the feasibility of different IPM strategies on different crops.

Contents

Evolution of plant disease control approaches (assisted, integrated, biological); fundamentals of epidemiology and forecasting models; assessment of economic damage caused by plant diseases; selection and development of plant disease control means and analysis of critical points (technical, economical, toxicological, environmental, legal); main classes of fungicides and their mechanism of action; fungicide resistance, mechanisms and prevention strategies; formulation of plant disease control means; factors influencing the efficacy of treatments; biological control: antagonists and their mechanism of action; R&D of biological control agents: from lab to field; commercial products and European legislation; IPM: case studies.

Recommended Bibliography

Belli G. (2007) Elementi di patologia vegetale. Piccin Nuova Libraria, Padova, 407 pp.
Agrios G.N. (2005) Plant pathology. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 922 pp.
Lorenzini G. (2001) Principi di fitoiatria. Calderini Edagricole, Bologna, 244 pp., Bologna.
Muccinelli M. (2004) Prontuario dei fitofarmaci, X Ed., Edagricole.
Power-Point presentations and other materials used for lectures is made available to the students on the online Moodle platform or via DropBox.

Teaching Methods

Face to face lectures, tutorials and laboratory, seminars. Beside face to face lectures, laboratory and glasshouse activities will include the following topics: 1) evaluation of the systemic activity of a fungicide; 2) in vitro selection of antagonistic microrganisms to be used against fungal pathogens; 3) biological control assay against post-harvest pathogens; 4) biological control assay against soil-borne pathogens.

Contacts/More Information

1) Readiness to offer individual assistance in a foreign language to incoming students: Y
2) Availability of supporting material in English: Y
3) Readiness to accept examination of incoming students in a foreign language: Y
(English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese).

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INTEGRATED DEFENCE AGAINST PATHOGENS