Vegetable crops constitute a vast array of plant species providing food for human beings. Losses in vegetable production, transit and storage due to attack of fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes and other hazards run into crores of rupees annually. The quantum of research on these problems in India is very low compared to countries self sufficient in food production.
The teaching of vegetable diseases in Universities had depended largely on few foreign books which were not readily available to majority of students. This book was written for students of plant pathology in Indian Universities. The past two editions, published in 1985 and 1987 were very well accepted by the readers and many suggestions for improvement were received. The present edition incorporates these suggestions and additional recent informations on the subject.
RS Singh had done research and taught plant pathology for nearly 40 years since 1948. During this period he published more than 130 research papers and authored many textbooks including Plant Diseases, Principles of Plant Pathology, Plant Pathogens, The Prokaryotes, The Fungi, The Nematodes, etc. After his retirement from Pantnagar University in 1989 he has maintained his contact with the subject and plant pathologists through his publications. He is a past president of Indian Phytopathological Society and Indian Society of Mycology and Plant Pathology.
