Disease Suppressive Tropical Soils

Dr Sam Gnanamanickam is an Indian plant pathologist. He was a professor at the University of Madras and has been recognized as an Adjunct Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Arizona, Tucson. He is known for his research on diversity of rice pathogens, molecular breeding of indica rices for disease resistance, and for developing superior strains of beneficial strains of rhizosphere bacteria for biological control of rice diseases. He has been named as a noteworthy plant pathologist and his pioneering contributions include the introduction of Pseudomonas and Bacillus strains to India for biological rice disease management (known today as the No Pesticide Rice Farming) and jump-starting the biopesticide industry in India.

Prof. Dr. Monica Höfte is a full professor at Ghent University and is the head of the laboratory of Phytopathology and head of the Department of Plants and Crops. She is an agricultural engineer with a PhD in microbial ecology and is well known for her contributions to both fundamental and practical aspects of plant-pathogen interactions. Her research interests are biological and integrated control of plant pathogens and natural and induced resistance mechanisms against fungi and bacteria in a wide variety of tropical (cocoyam, rice, banana) and temperate crops (lettuce, tomato, bean, cabbage, pepper, grapevine). She is a specialist in the use of Pseudomonas strains for biocontrol.