Daily Times

The Department of Plant Pathology of the Islamia University of Bahawalpur in collaboration with the Pakistan Phytopathological Society, conducted an International seminar on Plant-Pathogen Interactions on Thursday. The seminar was conducted to emphasize the importance of understanding Plant-Pathogen interactions.

The knowledge of Plant-Pathogen Interactions is vital for the prevention of diseases in plants, which would be beneficial to agricultural production and global food security. Plant Pathogens cause huge losses in natural plant systems both in terms of economics and production in the agriculture systems.

While many biotic constraints are well known, and confronted with variable success, the occurrence of emerging pathogens and the progressive incidence of novel virulent strains, races, or pathotypes is evident.

Moreover, the practicability of some of the currently available crop protection measures is questioned.

Understanding how pathogens adopt an appropriate adaptive mechanism during the infection process, and the exploitation of the diversity of mechanisms that plants process to control the genetic resistance or susceptibility to plant diseases will aid in conserving nature and ecosystem services and is also of benefit for agriculture and forestry.

Vice-Chancellor of The Islamia University of Bahawalpur Engr. Prof. Dr Athar Mahboob, Dean Faculty of Agriculture & Environment, Prof. Dr Muhammad Iqbal, Registrar, Prof. Dr Moazzam Jamil, President Pakistan Phytopathological Society Prof. Dr Tariq Mukhtar joined the event as a Guest of Honor. The event was arranged by Dr Muhammad Naveed Aslam Malghani, Chairman Department of Plant Pathology, and the session was moderated by co-organizers of the Department Ambreen Maqsood, Dr Taimoor Shakeel, Dr Waqas Ashraf, and Dr Anam Moosa. Prof. Dr Gitta Coaker, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California Davis, and Prof. Dr Shahbaz Talib Sahi, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad joined the seminar as guest speakers. Dr Muhammad Naveed Aslam Malghani said that the Department of Plant Pathology is continuously on its way to bring forward such informative sessions for the scientific community around the world. The seminar received more than 1770 registrations across the globe with more than 300 foreign participants, 150 faculty members, more than 100 participants from research and industry, and the rest of the participants were students.