Plant diseases cause substantial losses in yield of plants, leading to huge economic losses. Accurate identification and diagnosis of plant diseases are very important in the era of climate change and globalization for food security as well as prevention of the spread of invasive pests/pathogens. In addition, for an efficient and economical management of plant diseases accurate, sensitive and specific diagnosis is necessary. The science of plant disease diagnosis has evolved from visual inspection and identification of plant diseases to detect with high-throughput serological techniques like enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and molecular methods such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR). With the applications of bioinformatics in plant pathology, identification of specific motifs, DNA sequences has become possible, which ultimately increase the accuracy of modern techniques in plant disease diagnosis. Though advances have been made in every aspect of diagnosis of plant diseases; increasing sensitivity and specificity have remained the key area for development. This review briefly describes the various techniques used for plant disease diagnosis and their evolution to meet the contemporary challenges.
Advancements in the field of science and technology along with the global urbanization are the major factors driving the course and evolution of agricultural research. Rise in per capita income in developing nations, occupational changes and global linkages have changed the food preferences. These trends along with the increase in population pose a challenge to agriculture for producing more & better food. Increase in the productivity of agriculture by employing techniques of conventional (20 th century) agriculture is posing a limitation. The threat to environment, due to dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides for increasing productivity and pest management respectively is major constraint affecting the global food production. These trends suggest that new innovations in agriculture are inevitably needed and these innovations should be integrated with the main stream agriculture (the big agriculture as we may call). Vertical farming and organic farming are the research areas to fight these constraints. Vertical farming employs vertical stacking of the farms therefore small land can be utilized for more production. In addition, this technique is well suited for the rapidly growing global urban population as the demands of food supply can be met from within the cities and thus reducing the transportation cost and environment deterioration caused by fuels in the process. Organic farming on the other hand is based on the principles of minimization of the chemical inputs in the agriculture and hence is environment friendly. Thus, these techniques can be utilized for increasing the production and productivity to meet the growing food demands. vertically above each other. Vertical farming is large scale agriculture in urban high rise structures. The concept foresees the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, medicinal, fuel producing plants and other plant products in the cities. 6 (www.verticalfarms.com.au) and their sales directly within the cities, thereby reducing the transportation costs and efficient utilization of land and water resources.
Keywords6 Vertical farming is a step ahead technology from green houses as it involves harnessing of resources in vertical arrays and can feed the demands of food supply with the resources of mega cities. Vertical farming includes three types of farming:i. Phrase vertical farming was used by Gilbert Ellis Bailey in his book "Vertical Farming" in 1915. He discussed the utopian concept of vertical farming. He introduced the concept of underground vertical farming, presently followed in Netherlands. ii. In the second category, Vertical farming is done in open air or in mixed use sky scrapers for climate control and consumption. This is a sustainable type of farming for personal or community use and it may not be for commercial purposes. A modified form of this concept involves cultivation of crops in the periphery of sky scrapers to provide them ambient amount of light.iii. Third category involves cultivation of plant and animals in the sky scrappers in the closed...
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