Specialty „Agronomy“, Degree „Bachelor“, III, Type of the course: required Credits: 8 ECTS

Course objectives:
The purpose of the course is to familiarize students with the causes of the occurrence, development and spread of phenomena known as diseases of cultivated plants. The course objectives include theoretical and practical training on the causes of plant diseases, their identification, their main characteristics, the stages of the pathogenic process, the effect on the quantity and quality of production, as well as control measures.

Course description:
During the course students will be introduced to the main points of the establishment and development of the pathological infection process in plants, the discipline is conditionally divided into two main parts - general and special phytopathology. It Introduce fundamental questions related to the development of phytopathology. The general part will present the basic concepts in phytopathology, origin and science, types of disease classifications, main taxon’s of phytopathogens and their biology, methods for determining disease losses, the pathogen-host relationship - environmental factors, major areas and methods of control. The special section deals with the symptoms of diseases of the basic agricultural crops, the biological peculiarities of their causes and the control mechanisms. During the laboratory exercises students are introduced to the infection stages, attention is paid to the characteristic details of the infection and for the different symptoms of the disease in a crop and its methods of diagnosis.

Teaching staff:
Lectures: Assoc. Prof Slavcho Slavov
Exercises/seminars: Ch. Assist Prof Zhelyu Avramov