About The Book
Plant viruses and their vectors pose significant threats to global food security and agricultural sustainability. These pathogens and their transmission agents can cause severe yield losses, reducing crop quality and productivity. Understanding the interactions between plant viruses and their vectors, along with developing effective diagnostic tools and field management practices, is essential to mitigate the damage caused by the plant viruses. This book aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the latest advancements in early detection of plant viruses and to manage the vectors at the field level.
The book is divided into sections that cover fundamental concepts, advanced diagnostic techniques, and practical field management strategies. The chapters focus on the biology, transmission mechanisms, and host-pathogen-vector relationships, in different horticultural and important field crops. Information on molecular and serological diagnostic advancements including PCR, ELISA, and next-generation sequencing, highlights their applications and reliability in field conditions.
A key emphasis of this book is on field-level management practices that are both sustainable and economically feasible. Topics include integrated pest management (IPM), biological control, cultural practices, and the use of virus resistant crop varieties. This book illustrates successful virus-vector management programs, offering practical insights for researchers, extension workers, and farmers alike.
This book is intended for a broad audience, including plant pathologists, entomologists, agronomists, students, and agricultural professionals. By presenting up-to-date information and practical solutions, we hope to contribute to the development of resilient agricultural systems capable of withstanding the challenges posed by plant viruses.
About Author
Dr. R. Selvarajan is an eminent Plant Virologist
and currently serves as the Director of ICAR-
National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB),
Tiruchirappalli. He obtained his Ph.D. in Plant
Pathology from ICAR-Indian Agricultural
Research Institute, New Delhi, in 1994, with a
specialization in plant viruses. With over 30 years
of dedicated service in agricultural research, he
has made groundbreaking contributions to banana
virology and crop improvement. Dr. Selvarajan
has developed indigenous diagnostic kits for
banana viruses, IoT-based tools, and mobile applications that have
empowered farmers and strengthened disease management practices. His
laboratory, accredited by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), has
certified over 700 million tissue-cultured banana plants from 100 tissue
culture production unit recognized by DBT. He has also played a pivotal
role in developing new banana varieties, transgenic lines, and reviving
heritage cultivars like Hill banana (Virupakshi, GI-124). He has successfully
led 15 externally funded research projects, published 89 scientific papers,
authored five books, and holds a patent. Recognized nationally, he has
received prestigious awards including the ICAR Hari Ohm Ashram Trust
Award, DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Award,
Jeersannidhi Award and Sharda Lele MemorialAward of Indian
Phytopathological Society. Dr. Selvarajan is a fellow of National Academy
of Agricultural Sciences and other scientific societies suchas IVS, IPS,
NABS, IAHS and CHAI. He is serving as Vice President (Plant Virology)
of the Indian Virological Society and editor of the journal VirusDisease.
Mr. V. Balasubramanian is an agricultural
microbiologist with over two decades of
experience in Plant Virology and molecular
diagnostics. He earned his M.Sc. in Agriculture
with a specialization in Microbiology from
Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Tamil
Nadu, in 1999. His postgraduate research focused
on the symbiotic relationship between legumes
and Bradyrhizobium species in vegetable cowpea
(Vigna unguiculata). Mr. Balasubramanian began
his scientific career as a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Plant
Molecular Biology (CPMB), Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, where
he contributed to gene tagging for leaf folder resistance in rice. In 2000, he
joined the ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB),
Tiruchirappalli, where he has played a vital role in the development of
diagnostic kits for banana viruses prevalent in India. He brings significant
expertise in microbiological, immunological, and molecular diagnostic
techniques, in addition to hands-on experience in conducting field-level
experiments. He has also trained technical staff from banana tissue culture
industries in virus indexing techniques. Mr. Balasubramanian has received
awards for best poster and oral presentations at various national and
international conferences, and has authored numerous research publications
in reputed journals.
Dr. A. Mohanasundaram is a Senior Scientist at
the ICAR-National Research Centre for Banana
(NRCB), Tiruchirappalli. He holds a Ph.D. in
Agricultural Entomology from ICAR-IARI, New
Delhi, and completed his M.Sc. and B.Sc. in
Agriculture from TNAU. Prior to joining NRCB
in 2021, he served as a scientist at the ICAR-
National Institute of Secondary Agriculture in
Ranchi for over a decade. His research expertise
includes lac insect biodiversity, pest management,
eco-friendly pest control, and vector-virus interactions in bananas. Dr.
Mohanasundaram has published 66 research articles, 03 books, 03 books
edited, 09 technical bulletins, 02 training manuals, 10 extension folders,
07 souvenir-cum-book abstracts, 17 book chapters, 07 E publications,
several popular articles, granted one patent and filed one patent. His work
has been recognized through numerous awards, including the Young
Scientist Award (DISHA, 2018; SANRAG, 2021), Prof. T.N.
Ananthakrishnan Award (2020–21), Dr. M. Swamiappan Award, and AVIAN
Award for Plant Protection (2023). He is also a Fellow of the Society for
Biocontrol Advancement. Dr. Mohanasundaram’s contributions have
significantly advanced the field of Agricultural Entomology and bio-
intensive pest management.
Dr. Nagendran Krishnan is presently working
as a Scientist (Plant Pathology) in ICAR-National
Research Centre for Banana, Tiruchirappalli. He
obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture
(2004-08), post-graduation (2009-11) and Ph.D
(2011-2014) degree in Plant Pathology from Tamil
Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, India.
As a visiting scholar, he completed part his
doctoral degree research work at Washington State
University, USA. His research area focusses on
characterization and diagnostics for the viruses infecting horticultural crops.
He has documented several new virus disease reports on vegetable crops
for the first time in India. He has been associated in developing virus
resistance vegetable varieties of okra, sponge gourd and ridge gourd. To
his credit he has published more than 70 research articles, 5 review papers,
7 book chapters and 2 technical bulletins. He has obtained more than 12
awards for his work presented during conferences held at National and
International level. He is a Fellow of Indian Society of Vegetable Science.
Prof. (Dr.) Rajarshi Kumar Gaur is a renowned
plant virologist and currently serves as Professor
and Head in the Department of Biotechnology at
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University,
Uttar Pradesh, India. He earned his Ph.D. in 2005,
with a specialization in the molecular
characterization of sugarcane viruses including
mosaic, streak mosaic, and yellow luteovirus. He
has undertaken prestigious international post-
doctoral research, including a MASHAV
Fellowship from the Government of Israel, working at The Volcani Centre
and Ben-Gurion University. He later received a Visiting Scientist Fellowship
from the Swedish Institute to work at Umeå University, Sweden, and a
Post-Doctoral Fellowship from ICGEB, Italy. Prof. Gaur has published
over 140 research papers in reputed journals and authored or edited 30
books. He has presented more than 50 papers in national and international
conferences and has been honored with numerous awards, including the
Prof. B.M. Johri Memorial Award, UGC-Research Teacher Award, and the
Scientific & Applied Research Centre Gold Medal Award. He is a Fellow
of the Indian Virological Society, Linnean Society, Royal Society of Biology,
and several other professional bodies. He is actively involved in national
and international collaborative projects on plant viruses and continues to
contribute significantly to plant disease management and biotechnology
research.
