Home

International Summer School in

Plant Disease Epidemiology

Because of the productivity and quality losses they cause, plant disease epidemics have major effects on the sustainability of agricultural systems worldwide. Crop losses are both direct and indirect: investments in labour, water, energy, seeds, land, and other inputs are wasted in “untaken harvests”. Plant diseases therefore lead to increased vulnerability of livelihoods and communities, with hidden, often very large, economic, social, environmental, and cultural, costs at the farm, community, and national levels.

Today plant disease epidemiology is topic not often taught in graduate or post-graduate curricula. We therefore are now confronted with a dramatic shortage of trained scientists in botanical epidemiology, while global agriculture faces (and will continue to face) unprecedented challenges. Essential agricultural systems, such as those prevailing in South Asia, North America, Brazil, East Asia, and Africa, are facing major and renewed sustainability challenges. Plant disease epidemiology therefore has critical contributions to be made in terms of food security and food safety.

In order to address this critical need for botanical epidemiology and to offer exposure to one of the important aspects of plant protection, the First International Summer School in Plant Disease Epidemiology was held in Raipur, India, from March 30 to April 3, 2015.

The Second International Summer School has been held at the University of Pretoria on January 16-20, 2023.

In the links to the left, you will find information related to the course, as well as copies of the presentations that were given during both Summer Schools. We welcome your feedback, so feel free to contact any of the organizers for more information.

We will providing updates in the future about the date and location of the next workshop, so please stay tuned!