ABSTRACT
The pathogens that attack sweet potatoes can influence production in a wide variety of ways. Root and foliar pathogens may suppress yield without directly attacking the edible portion for which the crop is being grown. This chapter discusses generally accepted control procedures and their application to the control of specific sweet potato diseases. It focuses on the causal agent, disease symptoms, losses, diagnostic procedures, and geographic distribution. There are several approaches which have been used for the control of plant diseases. Chemicals have been used to control some sweet potato diseases in the temperate growing regions. There are no major foliar diseases in temperate growing areas that have warranted the application of chemicals for disease control. Members of the Meloidogyneand Rotylenchulusgenera are the known major nematode pests of sweet potatoes in the tropics, however, many other plant parasitic nematodes have been isolated from tropical soils used for sweet potato production.
