ABSTRACT
Disease management strategies differ widely from one disease to the next as a result of differences in pathogen, host, and biotic and abiotic variables. The goal of plant disease management is to reduce the economic and aesthetic damage caused by plant diseases. Plant disease management practices rely on anticipating occurrence of disease and attacking vulnerable points in the disease cycle (i.e., weak links in the infection chain). The general principles of plant disease control was first articulated by H. H. Whetzel in 1929 to categorize strategies for preventing plant diseases into four groups: prevention (through exclusion), elimination (by eradication), protection (with protection), and vaccination (via immunization) and modified somewhat by various authors over the years, has been widely adopted and taught to generations of plant pathology students around the world. Plant disease epidemics can be classified into two basic types, monocyclic and polycyclic, depending on the number of infection cycles per crop cycle.
