Growth improvement and management of vegetable diseases by plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria

Abstract

Vegetables are an important part of human dietary systems. They contain several important nutrients including vitamins, antioxidants, etc. and affect immensely the human health. Vegetables are cultivated and consumed globally on a large scale and serve as the food of choice for millions of people across the globe. During cultivation, most of the vegetable crops are, however, often attacked by various insect pests and pathogenic microorganisms, thereby causing severe diseases, leading to huge yield losses. The agricultural practitioners depend heavily on chemical fertilizers to supply nutrients to vegetables while they apply pesticides to manage insect pests and to concurrently enhance vegetable production. The injudicious application of agrochemicals including pesticides into vegetable production practices adversely affects the soil fertility and consequently the plant health, thus making it unfit for human consumption. In order to protect the crops and to minimize yield losses due to phytopathogens, an alternate and inexpensive approach involving the use of plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) has been introduced into the vegetable production system. The application of PGPR formulations into the vegetable production strategies has been found to protect them from various diseases leading to improved yield and quality of the vegetables. The present chapter focuses on the disease incidence among some of the popularly grown vegetables and the role of PGPR in suppression of common vegetable diseases.