Integrated disease management in hemp cultivation

Since hemp reintroduction in the US (Agricultural Act of 2014; Agricultural Improvement Act 2018), over 50 diseases have been confirmed to cause yield loss in hemp (Munir et al. 2023, Gauthier et al. 2019, 2022, Kesheimer et al. 2021, Kesheimer et al. 2023, Gauthier and Thiessen 2022, Thiessen et al. 2020, Rivedal et al. 2022, Ellison 2020). Unfortunately, the hemp industry has missed opportunities for scientific advances resulting from over 80 years of prohibition. Pathology publications from the prohibition era are limited to literature reviews from decades past and general observations and anecdotal reports from the illegal cannabis industry (McPartland et al. 2000). During that time, however, the discipline of plant pathology has advanced in terms of taxonomy, diagnostics, and disease management.