This new edition of the book A guide to sugarcane diseases is a revised and updated version of the first edition published in 2000 by the International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists (ISSCT) and CIRAD, with the same objective of gathering practical and updated information in sugarcane pathology. During the last two decades, new diseases have developed and distribution of known diseases has expanded. Furthermore, significant progress was made in disease diagnosis with the emergence of powerful new molecular methods.
The book starts with an introductory chapter on sugarcane morphology, anatomy and physiology. This latter is followed by chapters on diseases caused by various pathogens i.e., bacteria, fungi and fungus-like organisms, viruses, and even a newly reported protozoan that causes chlorotic streak. The book also contains a chapter on diseases of uncertain etiology and a chapter on plant-parasitic nematodes. The procedures for the safe movement of sugarcane germplasm and the common names of sugarcane diseases and their causal agent(s) have been updated, as well as the listing of the sugarcane producing countries and their diseases.
Forty-one experts contributed to this new edition that is expected to become a useful new resource for plant pathologists, the sugarcane community at large, and all people interested in this subject.