Plant Pathology

Extension

The Extension programs in the Department of Plant Pathology are designed to reduce plant disease losses in the context of a sustainable environment by educating and assisting County Faculty and producers through the County delivery system. This program is committed to providing the best unbiased educational information on disease management, and responsive diagnosis to facilitate timely implementation of those management recommendations. This goal is achieved by effective interdepartmental and interdisciplinary programming across our functions of research, extension and instruction. Disease management education is our business and environmental quality linked with economic viability is the result.

Faculty offer comprehensive training opportunities and diagnostic support for County Faculty on the vast variety of food, feed, fiber and ornamental crops produced in Georgia. Some of these experiences are as plant disease diagnostic clinics where live plant material is used to teach agents, others are multidisciplinary in nature to provide an overview of all aspects of production of a crop. In addition, newsletters, slide sets, videos, web based materials and other publications are provided on a timely basis as a means of on-going information exchange. Our Extension programs also generally reach over 15,000 growers each year in more than 200 educational meetings held by County Faculty, as well as through many on-farm visits with County Faculty. Faculty in the Department of Plant Pathology are also fully engaged with County Faculty in the development and implementation of field studies to address information needed for designing effective disease management recommendations to recurring or emerging diseases.