Opportunities and Challenges to Mitigate the Emerging Fungal Pathogens Exposed to Adaptation Against Climate Change

Plant Disease Epidemic (PDE) is an important event that occurs whenever the pathogens infect, develop, initiates and spreads the disease. The occurrence and severity of PDE is influenced by the climate change such as unpredictable variations in the light intensity, leaf wetness, day length, rainfall pattern, frost injury, fluctuations in temperature and humidity. The physiological alterations underlying climate change are modification of host resistance, altered development in stages of pathogen and tritrophic interaction between host, pathogen and climate which are important components of plant disease epidemiology. Introduction of new crops in an area under changed climate leads to emergence of new pathogen biotypes/races and crop protection strategies available fail to succeed leading to new disease reports or outbreaks. The disease management strategies offer challenges to mitigate the newly evolving fungal pathogens which are exposed to adaptation due to climate change. Disease prediction models, disease assessment prior to development, forecasting disease under unpredictable weather changes, information on plant quarantine and disease management advisories benefit farmers, extension workers and policy makers. This chapter explains the exploitation and adoption of available disease management opportunities such as utilization of crop species diversity, host resistance, Integrated Disease Management (IDM) strategies under changed climatic conditions for sustainable agriculture.