RECENT TECHNIQUES IN PLANT DISEASE DIAGNOSTICS FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE - A REVIEW

Abstract

There has been a growing need for rapid, on-site detection of plant diseases in the agricultural field. The desire is to identify pathogens using portable, handheld devices or tools which are cost-effective and easy to operate by minimally-trained personnel. Existing pathogen detection technologies are limited to the identification of known plant pathogens with low to medium accuracy. There is a need to invent smart techniques and methods for the rapid detection of plant pathogens in a quick and easy way so that timely decision support can be provided to farmers to protect their plants against pathogens. There are a number of advanced biotechnology techniques being developed and tailored for agriculture, such as single cell genomics and gene editing techniques. The biosensing techniques have shown progress with stronger focus on commercialization potential of microfluidics. There is a general realization to develop tools beyond laboratory settings that adequately address the end user needs for on-the-spot testing. This review covers the abovementioned topics covering the recent tools and techniques for field testing of plant pathogens that are cost-effective, sensitive, and easy-to-use.