Bacterial Wilt and Its Management

Identification of the cause of disease is the most important step towards its eradication, cure and management. India being an agro-based country, plant diseases alone cause immense economic loss to the tune of rupees 500 crores every year. In this study, we focus on reportedly one of the most devastating diseases called bacterial wilt. Though each bacterial type has a set of host range, recent study shows frequent overlapping of susceptible host plants. Besides, several new species have been identified in recent times that cause wilt in plants. There are lots of similarities in the disease manifestation and molecular identification has been quite effective in proper identification of the pathogens. In this study, management of wilt mainly briefs the methods adopted against Ralstonia solanacearum. Other than physical and chemical methods, management of the disease by use of antagonistic bacteria and fungi has been found to be the recent trend.