Vascular Wilt Diseases-A Menace in Vegetable Crops

Vascular wilts are the most important yield limiting diseases of vegetables and caused by both fungal and bacterial pathogens. The major wilt causing fungal pathogenic genera are Fusarium and Verticillium; while Ralstonia solanacearum is the bacterial wilt pathogen. These pathogens are a challenge to control because they often survive in soil for long periods and affect the crops throughout the year from across the plant families. The disease symptoms caused by each pathogenic genus are often creating confusions. For the effective plant disease management a thorough knowledge on symptoms caused by various pathogenic organisms, their detection and diagnostics techniques, mode of survival and infection, host range, and favorable conditions is needed. Similarly, to minimize the crop yield losses due to vascular wilt diseases, approaches like use of resistant varieties/cultivars, selection of suitable chemical fungicides/antibiotics, adopting different cultural practices and application of appropriate biocontrol agents, are to be included in the disease management practices. This review aims to provide comprehensive information about the vascular wilt diseases of vegetable crops, pathogen detection and disease management.