Disease Suppressive Tropical Soils

This volume explores how soils in tropical crop production areas naturally suppress devastating diseases affecting key crops such as rice, banana, cocoyam, and others. While disease-suppressive soils in temperate regions have been widely studied, far less is known about their occurrence and role in the tropics. For the first time, we bring together and document evidence showing how tropical soils contribute to disease suppression, often in regions where crops have been cultivated for time immemorial. For example, research in India has shown that rice has been grown continuously in the same soils for over 3,000 years under monoculture.

By engaging leading researchers as chapter authors, this volume highlights how soil suppressiveness functions in tropical systems and draws parallels with findings from temperate regions. A particular emphasis is placed on the soil microbiome, underscoring its central role in maintaining soil and crop health.

Author Biography

Dr Sam Gnanamanickam is an Indian plant pathologist. He was a professor at the University of Madras and has been recognized as an Adjunct Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Arizona, Tucson. He is known for his research on diversity of rice pathogens, molecular breeding of indica rices for disease resistance, and for developing superior strains of beneficial strains of rhizosphere bacteria for biological control of rice diseases. He has been named as a noteworthy plant pathologist and his pioneering contributions include the introduction of Pseudomonas and Bacillus strains to India for biological rice disease management (known today as the No Pesticide Rice Farming) and jump-starting the biopesticide industry in India.

Prof. Dr. Monica Höfte is a full professor at Ghent University and is the head of the laboratory of Phytopathology and head of the Department of Plants and Crops. She is an agricultural engineer with a PhD in microbial ecology and is well known for her contributions to both fundamental and practical aspects of plant-pathogen interactions. Her research interests are biological and integrated control of plant pathogens and natural and induced resistance mechanisms against fungi and bacteria in a wide variety of tropical (cocoyam, rice, banana) and temperate crops (lettuce, tomato, bean, cabbage, pepper, grapevine). She is a specialist in the use of Pseudomonas strains for biocontrol.