The horticultural crops, including spices and plantation crops, are known for their enormous benefits, contributing to the country’s economy. However, Phytophthora, a genus of Oomycetes class, poses a threat to spice and plantation crops by infecting and damaging them, resulting in yield losses, economic hardship for farmers, and food security concerns, thereby threatening the sustainability of spice and plantation crops. Moreover, Phytophthora has greater adaptation systems in varying environmental conditions. Therefore, eradicating or controlling Phytophthora is a highly challenging process due to the longevity of its infective propagules in soil. Early detection and curative measures would be more effective in managing this destructive pathogen. Additionally, molecular detection using innovative methods such as polymerase chain reaction, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, recombinase polymerase amplification, and loop-mediated isothermal amplification would offer reliable and rapid detection. Furthermore, integrated disease management strategies, combining cultural, physical, chemical, and biological methods, would prove highly beneficial in managing Phytophthora infections in spices and plantation crops. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the diversity, symptomatology, pathogenicity, and impact of Phytophthora diseases on prominent spice and plantation crops. Finally, our review explores the current disease reduction strategies and suggests future research directions to address the threat posed by Phytophthora to spices and plantation crops.

The tea mosquito bug (TMB) Helopeltis antonii Signoret poses a significant threat to cashew plantations, causing substantial damage to the trees and affecting crop productivity. Botanicals have been examined for their effectiveness against tea mosquito bugs (TMB) in cashew plantations that impose damage on cashew trees. A field experiment was conducted at the Regional Research Station, Vridhachalam, Tamil Nadu, to evaluate the effectiveness of various botanical pesticides against TMB. The study included seven treatments using different botanicals and one untreated control. Applications were made at critical growth stages, namely flushing, flowering and nut formation, at fortnightly intervals, ensuring the pest population remained below the economic threshold level (ETL). Five spray rounds were administered, with a maximum of 10 L of spray suspension applied per tree for each treatment. The results demonstrated a significant reduction in TMB incidence in plots treated with botanical pesticides. Fifteen days after the third, fourth and fifth sprays, TMB incidence was completely absent in treated plots, whereas the untreated control recorded a damage score of 3.25. Furthermore, a marked decline in fresh TMB infestations was observed within seven days following each spray application. Among the treatments, a mixture of leaf extracts from adathoda (Adathoda vasica), datura (Datura metel), vitex (Vitex negundo), calotropis (Calotropis gigantea) and neem (Azadirachta indica) showed the highest efficacy, reducing TMB incidence to damage scales of 0.660 and 0.550. Similarly, Pongamia oil (5 % concentration) exhibited substantial effectiveness, reducing TMB incidence to scales of 0.845 and 0.645. These findings highlight the potential of botanical pesticides as eco–friendly and effective alternatives for managing TMB in cashew plantations.

Vegetables are considered as the major source for opportunistic and emerging pathogens due to their diverse microbiome. Utilising bacterial endophytes and other bacterial agents to control a variety of economically important plant diseases is vital for achieving sustainable agriculture. Within internal plant tissues, bacterial endophytes form colonies without apparent injury. These bacteria provide several advantages for plant systems, including the direct stimulation of plant development through the creation of metabolites or phytohormones. Importantly, bacterial endophytes play a dual role by safeguarding their plant host through the biocontrol of pathogens and induction of the plant's innate immune system. This review offers a methodical and inclusive examination of the current state of endophytic diversity of bacteria, their methods of plant colonisation and their potential functions as protective agents against plant diseases. The review concludes by proposing diverse effective strategies for applying endophytic bacteria as a biological agent aiming to safeguard vegetable crop plants and enhancing the resilience of agricultural products.

Rice false smut (RFS), caused by Ustilaginoidea virens, has re-emerged as a major floral disease, posing significant threats to global rice production and food safety. Once regarded as a minor concern, RFS now frequently results in epidemic outbreaks, with yield losses reaching up to 75%, and grain contamination by toxic mycotoxins such as ustiloxins, ustilaginoidins, and sorbicillinoids. This review presents a comprehensive overview of the pathogen’s taxonomy, biology, symptomatology, and host-pathogen interactions. Special focus is given to its survival structures and mycotoxin biosynthesis, as well as recent molecular findings that reveal systemic and asymptomatic colonization of rice plants. The chapter also summarizes current diagnostic tools ranging from conventional microscopy to advanced methods like qPCR, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and CRISPR-based assays. Management strategies are reviewed, with particular attention to the effectiveness of fungicides, biocontrol agents such as Trichoderma and Bacillus spp., and plant-derived antifungal compounds. An integrated disease management (IDM) approach combining cultural practices, chemical and biological methods, and host resistance is recommended for sustainable control. The review also discusses future prospects, including RNA interference (RNAi), CRISPR-based genome editing, and precision agriculture, for developing long-term solutions to this challenging disease.

Butter beans (Phaseolus lunatus) are prized for their significant nutraceutical benefits, which are crucial in addressing malnutrition in developing countries. Given their nutritional advantages, global cultivation demand is increasing. This study aims to boost production and improve crop quality through effective agronomic practices. To minimize dependence on synthetic chemicals, the study investigates the use of biostimulants as an alternative, offering a promising method for enhancing crop growth and performance. The experiment took place under 2 different conditions: polyhouse (G1) and open field condition (G2) at Horticultural and Forestry Research Station, Kodaikanal, from December 2023 to June 2024. Various biostimulants were applied in foliar parts in different doses: control (B1) seaweed extract at 3 % (B2) and 5 % (B3), panchagavya at 3 % (B4) and 5 % (B5), vermiwash at 5 % (B6) and 10 % (B7) and fulvic acid at 6 g/L (B8) and 9 g/L (B9), each replicated 3 times. Among the treatment combinations, G1B3 (seaweed extract 5 % under polyhouse condition) was most effective in all growth, yield and quality parameters including days to first flower emergence (48.50 days), number of pods per plant (96.33), pod yield (4.98 t/ha), highest soluble protein (37.36 %) than G2B1 (control group under open field condition). It resulted in a greater number of days for flower emergence (57.85 days), lowest values in number of pods per plant (69.91), pod yield (2.96 t/ha) and soluble protein (24.69 %). These findings suggest that seaweed extract has great potential as a sustainable agricultural input, enhancing productivity and crop performance in butter bean cultivation. The main goals were to investigate how different biostimulants and growing conditions affect the growth and yield of butter beans and to identify effective organic growth promoters that could improve the yield and quality of butter bean crops in various growing environments. The results of this study are discussed in the following sections.

A field screening of F3 to F6 generation interspecific tomato hybrid-derived lines for Peanut Bud Necrosis Virus (PBNV) resistance was conducted at the Department of Horticulture, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Tamil Nadu, from 2019 to 2021. PBNV is one of the most devastating and economically significant viruses affecting tomatoes, leading to yield losses of up to 80-100 %. This study aimed to develop PBNV-resistant tomato lines suitable for commercial cultivation and assess the inheritance of resistance in advanced generations. Three tomato lines were crossed with ten wild species, generating 30 interspecific hybrids. Among these, four interspecific crosses viz., H4 (Arka Vikas × PSR 11668 - Solanum pimpinellifolium), H6 (Arka Vikas × EC 519809 - S. peruvianum), H17 (CO3 × EC 519791 - S. habrochaites) and H27 (PKM1 × EC 519791 - S. hirsutum) were screened in advanced generations under natural field conditions. No insecticide was applied throughout the entire crop production period. The disease incidence was evaluated on the 30th, 45th, 60th and 90th day after transplantation using the Percent Disease Incidence (PDI %) and disease reaction scale. Further in the F4 generation, a total of seventeen lines from the above four crosses were evaluated. In F5 and F6, generation 10 lines and 3 lines, respectively, from two crosses-viz., H6 (Arka Vikas × EC 519809, S. peruvianum) and H27 (PKM-1 × EC 519791) were evaluated. The results indicated that PBNV infection was present at all stages of crop growth. Among the four interspecific hybrids, the highest level of field resistance was observed in two lines of H6 (Arka Vikas × EC 519809 - S. peruvianum), followed by one line of H27 (PKM-1 × EC 519791). The resistant plants will either be released as a PBNV-resistant variety or utilized as a source of PBNV resistance in tomato breeding programs.