HISTORY OF PHYTOPATHOLOGY IN PERU (Essay)

FACULTY:
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES – UNT

SCHOOL:
BIOLOGY

COURSE:
PHYTOPATHOLOGY
MEMBERS:
- ARTEAGA NUÑEZ JOSUE
- GUEVARA VENEROS ROMY
- QUISPE ROJAS MARILU
- SALGUERO GARCIA GUSTAVO

INTRODUCTION
Man has been aware of plant diseases since ancient times. In Vedas (1200 B.C. C.), the oldest book
that exists, mentions crop rot. In the Old Testament, mildew and blight are mentioned along with wars
and human diseases, as the greatest calamities of people.
Theophrastus De Eresus, Greek philosopher who lived from 370 - 286. TO. C., was the first to study,
based on observations, diseases in trees, cereals and legumes, he specified that the diseases were
more severe in lowlands than on the slopes and that rusts were more common in cereals than in
legumes.
Phytopathology studies diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, phytoplasmas, viruses, viroids, nematodes,
parasitic plants and protozoans. They also study the alterations that occur in plants due to excess,
imbalance or lack of certain physical or chemical factors such as temperature, humidity and nutrients.
Economic importance of phytopathology
Plant diseases are one of the main problems that have to be faced in agriculture; because they reduce
harvests, impair product quality, and limit, at the same time, the availability of food and raw materials for
a series of industries. For people who depend on agriculture, plant diseases can mean the difference
between a normal life and one beset by hunger, even death from starvation.
The death of 250,000 Irish in 1845 as a result of "potato late blight," and much of the hunger suffered
today by millions of people living in underdeveloped rural regions, are sad examples of the
consequences of potato diseases. floors.
Plant diseases cause economic losses to agriculture, lead to an increase in the price of products and
destroy the beauty of the environment by damaging ornamental plants in houses, parks, avenues and
forests, reducing the variety of plants that can develop in a certain geographical area by destroying all
plants of certain species susceptible to a particular disease; For example, the American chestnut was
wiped out from North American forests by chestnut blight caused by Endothia parasitica.
Plant diseases have also changed people's customs; For example: some countries have had to replace
wheat with rye or corn due to Black Rust of wheat ( Puccinia graminis ).
In England in the 19th century, coffee was replaced by tea because the coffee plantations in one of its
colonies in Ceylon were devastated by rusts ( Hemileia vastatrix ). In Central America, Panama disease,
caused by Fusarium oxysporum fsp. cubense , forced many countries to stop growing bananas.
In Peru, the cultivation of flax was promoted during the Second World War; but, in a very short time it
was practically destroyed by Fusarium oxysporum fsp. Lini .
Plant diseases are also responsible for the creation of new industries; for example, those who produce
chemicals, agricultural machinery and those who develop methods necessary to control diseases.
Beginnings of phytopathology in Peru
Phytopathology in Peru: its beginnings, institutions and people who contributed to it are mentioned by
Germán García Rada in his Book “Agricultural Phytopathology of Peru” (1947), where he indicates that
in 1878, Mr. Manuel García y Merino published the first book on Peruvian Phytopathology, titled “The
Plant Epidemics on the Coast of Peru”, where the author describes various abnormalities observed in
plants and considers them mostly caused by climatic variations, a concept that prevailed in the epoch.
In his same book, García Rada points out that the author of “The Plant Epidemics on the Coast of Peru”
makes the first mention of “wheat rust” in the country, indicating that since 1687, the “dust” was already
observed. that occurred in wheat plants, reducing yields. It was undoubtedly stem rust, due to the
temperature and humidity conditions prevalent on the coast of Lima, which favor the development of the
disease. At that time, the wheat area planted came from varieties introduced by the Spanish, probably
with little genetic variability, which made them vulnerable to any epidemic outbreak, especially to the
change in virulence within the pathogen population. The pathogen must have been present in the
planting areas, but at low incidence. Presumably, the introduced variety, initially resistant to rust,
became susceptible to some new variant of the pathogen that probably emerged due to some complex
interaction between the host, the pathogen and the environment, which favored the development of the
disease with characteristics of epiphytia.
Abbott in 1928 indicated that there were 38 known physiological forms or strains of Puccinia graminis
tritici with different capacities to infect certain varieties of wheat. Postigo and García Rada indicated that
the number of races of the pathogen reached 250, of which more than 100 were found in the country in
the period 1953-1960, and of these, race 189, which had been detected only in Peru, was the most
virulent of all, due to its ability to surpass all resistance genes known up to that time.
The founding of the National School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine of Santa Beatriz in 1902, by
the Belgian Mission in charge of Eng. Jorge Vanderghem, and his move to La Molina in 1933, gave the
beginning of this discipline by the Belgian Mission made up of professors hired from the Gembloux
Agricultural Institute, led by the Agricultural Engineer Jorge Vanderghem. Later the School was renamed
the National School of Agriculture (ENA), when the Veterinary part was separated in 1944. The
professional training of agronomists required knowledge of the various problems that affect crops,
including Plant Pathology. This discipline was considered from its beginnings in the Botany course.
Regarding the practical teaching of phytopathology that was taught in four years of studies, only in the
fourth year were practices of “microscopic determination of diseases and their evolution (disease cycle),
examination of disease-producing insects, its evolution, practice of methods to combat pests, and
preparation of various anti-cryptogamic and insecticidal solutions and their application.
The pioneers
The professors who taught the Botany course that included Phytopathology were the Agricultural
Engineers Leopoldo Hecq, (1904-1906); Carlos Deneumostier, (1907-1911) and Julio Gaudron, (1912-
1952).
The Peruvian Government understood that the National School of Agriculture should be not only a
technical education center for the training of professionals, but also a center for experimentation and
consultation on agricultural matters. At the initiative of Dr. Carlos Larraburre, founding professor of the
ENAV and Director of the Ministry of Development, the Farm School and the experimental stations for
sugar cane, cotton, and Zootechnics were created, which later served as the basis for organizing a
center for experimentation: the Central Agronomic Station, with different sections; among these, the
Section of Botany and Plant Pathology to study cryptogamic diseases, their remedies and how to
prevent them. Since 1913, this section was renamed the Botany and Plant Physiology Section, which
had under its control the services of Parasitology and Plant Pathology, herbaria, Botanical Garden and
Seed Control. This Central Agronomic Station was an entity dependent on the National School of
Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine. In 1933, when the National School of Agriculture moved to its
headquarters in La Molina, the teaching of Entomology was separated from Phytopathology.
The La Molina Agricultural Experiment Station
Another important fact is the creation of the Agricultural Experimental Station (EEA) of La Molina in
August 1927, by the National Agrarian Society, which had it under its control until May 15, 1930, when
by Supreme Decree it became depend directly on the Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock of the
Ministry of Public Works. The lack of specialized national personnel with sufficient experience forced
them to look abroad for specialists to take charge of the different sections.
The Phytopathology section of the Experimental Station begins the establishment of a rigorous
quarantine of the new varieties of sugar cane to prevent the entry of pests that had caused great
damage in other countries; For this purpose, land was acquired for the establishment of a Quarantine
Station on the “La Chalaca” farm, 7 km from the center of Lima, near Av. La Unión (today Av.
Argentina). In December 1927, research on insect vectors of the “sugar cane mosaic” began on the
country's coast to study the way this disease spread.
The National Agrarian Society requested the Government to create an organization that controls plant
health services. By Decree of June 1, 1928, the Government created the Plant Health Board as a
consultative body of the Technical Directorate of Agriculture and Livestock; This Technical Directorate
was created in 1918 as a dependency of the Ministry of Public Works. The current Ministry of Agriculture
was only created in 1940.
Cañete Farmers' Agricultural Experimental Station It is worth mentioning that at the Cañete
Experimental Station the concept and use of Integrated Pest Control, today Integrated Pest
Management, was born due to the work of its notable entomologists in the management of cotton pests.
This Station is currently completely deactivated.
Tingo María Agricultural Experiment Station
He contributed to numerous studies on crop diseases typical of the jungle region. It should be noted that
during the years 62 to 63, this Experimental Station served as the basis for the creation of the National
Agrarian University of La Selva, Tingo María, where the teaching of Phytopathology is offered in its
Faculty of Agronomy. The Mission of North Carolina State University: The arrival to Peru of this Mission
was linked to the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Agrarian University La Molina; Its objective was
to support the research work on potato cultivation carried out by the National Potato Program of the
Agrarian Research and Promotion Service (SIPA-EEA of La Molina), and the UNALM Potato Research
Program.
In addition to his multiple advisory functions, he worked on the identification of crop pathogens in
different agricultural areas of the country; His work stands out on the bacterial wilt of the potato
Ralstonia solanacearum , on the conservation of the fungus of the genus Fusarium , etc., and he taught,
at the UNALM Graduate School, the course on Techniques and Methods in Phytopathology for students
of this discipline.
Based on the University of North Carolina Mission, the International Potato Center (CIP) was created in
La Molina on January 20, 1971. For some, the date is January 25, 1972, when the building in La Molina
it was finished.
The Diagnostic Clinic is a department of the Department. of Phytopathology at UNALM created to
provide services to the community at the local, regional and national level. It maintains a well-nourished
database of disease problems of plants that grow in the country, their etiology, symptoms and
distribution, as well as recommendations for their management and control.
Creation of the Phytopathology Specialty at the Graduate School of the National Agrarian
University La Molina.
The creation of New Universities with Faculties of Agronomy in the country required phytopathologists to
take charge of teaching. Many of them did not have such professionals and had to hire the services of
phytopathologists trained at UNALM, or make agreements with it to make up for this lack. The creation
of the Phytopathology specialty of the UNALM Graduate School in 1967 made it possible to correct this
deficiency by training professionals with a Magister Scientiae degree in this discipline, for which, until
before its creation, it was necessary to study abroad ( United States, Europe, Mexico, Costa Rica, etc.).
Since its creation until 2010, the Peruvian Association of Phytopathology has organized twenty-one
Peruvian Congresses of Phytopathology. The first three were based in Lima and were held annually in
1971, 1972 and 1973. Since 1975, the remaining 18 have been carried out at two-year intervals and in a
decentralized manner.
Peruvian Universities with Faculties of Agronomy
The following universities have Departments of Plant Pathology, whose plant pathologists have been
trained at UNALM or at foreign universities:
1) National Agrarian University La Molina, Lima
2) Santiago Antúnez de Mayolo National University, Ancash
3) Technological University of the Andes, Apurimac
4) National University of San Agustín, Arequipa
5) Santa María Catholic Private University, Arequipa
6) National University San Cristóbal de Huamanga, Ayacucho
7) National University of Cajamarca, Cajamarca
8) Daniel Alcides Carrión National University, Cerro de Pasco
9) San Antonio de Abad National University, Cusco
10) National University of Huancavelica, Huancavelica
11) Hermilio Valdizán National University, Huánuco
12) National Agrarian University of the Jungle, Tingo María, Huánuco
13) San Luis Gonzaga National University, Ica
14) National University of the Peruvian Amazon, Iquitos
15) National University of the Center, Huancayo, Junín
16) Pedro Ruiz Gallo National University, Lambayeque
17) José Faustino Sánchez Carrión National University, Huacho, Lima
18) José Carlos Mariátegui University, Moquegua
19) National University of Piura, Piura
20) National University of the Altiplano, Puno
21) Jorge Basadre Grohmann National University, Tacna
22) National University of San Martín, Tarapoto
23) Antenor Orrego Private University, Trujillo
24) National University of Trujillo, Trujillo
25) National University of Tumbes, Tumbes
26) National University of Ucayali, Ucayali
Contribution of phytopathologists in Peru.
The contribution of phytopathologists in Peru can be summarized in the following relationship:
Julio Gaudron mentioned in his 1927 report as Head of the Botany Section of the ENAV, the
participation of the teachers of the Applied Botany Section in the formation of the Plant Pathology
Commission that was formally organized in August 1905. The members of said commission issued the
following reports: Hecq, “Treatment of potatoes with Bordeaux broth”, 1905; “The potato disease”, 1905
and 1906. Vanderghem, “Diseases of custard apple and wheat,” 1907; “Fitoftora infestans (sic), or
potato disease”, 1907.
Gaudron emphasized that the most notable work of the Plant Pathology Commission was the fight
against Phytophthora infestans or “potato ice” in the Lima countryside through the use of Bordeaux
broth. Gaudron's work was directed to the areas of entomology and phytopathology. There are
numerous reports concerning insect problems, especially in cotton and pome fruit trees. In 1924 he
reported “the decrease in the resistance of Tangüis cotton to “Cotton Wilt.”
The Plant Pathology Commission was deactivated at the end of 1909, its functions being assumed by
the Botany Section of the ENAV. During that period, Law No. 1221 on the Plant Health Police, which
granted the Executive Branch the broadest powers to prevent the entry into the country of any type of
seeds and propagative material, without due guarantees of being free of diseases or insects dangerous
to the country's crops. In 1911 the law was regulated, establishing the use of phytosanitary certificates
and confinement licenses.
Ernest V. Abbott, in his work as Head of the Phytopathology Section of the EEA of La Molina, made
inspection trips to search for diseased plants in the country, indicating that he managed to identify 111
diseases in the following crops: sugar cane, 8; cotton, 8; corn, 6; coffee tree, 7; dad, 12; wheat, 8;
barley, 5; alfalfa, 4; fruit trees, 21; vegetables, 18; various crops, 14. The diseases that deserved special
reports were: “The mosaic of sugar cane”, “Cotton wilt in the Lima region”, and “Fungal diseases of
cotton in the Department. from Piura.”
Abbott mentioned the presence of three “mosaic” or virus-type diseases in potatoes seen in commercial
fields around Lima: “moderate mosaic,” “leaf curl,” and “spindle tubercle” (the spindle tuber mentioned
was probably due to to a symptom produced by some other pathogen or by abiotic factors), and
indicated that the virus is carried in the seed and transmitted from diseased plants to healthy ones
through the insect vector, the common potato aphis.
Germán García Rada, in his first report as Assistant Phytopathologist in charge of the head of the
Phytopathology Section of the EEA of La Molina since June 1930, indicated that the work carried out
was the continuation of the field trials and the Laboratory work. for the identification of the different fungi
that attack plants, initiated by Abbott. Likewise, he reported that in the second half of 1930 new diseases
were found, they were: powdery mildew ( Oidium sp.) of the lucuma, Lucuma obovata ; brown leaf spot (
Mycosphaerella fragariae ) of strawberry, Fragaria spp .; neck and root tumor ( Urophlyctis alfalfae ) of
alfalfa, Medicago sativa ; rye rust ( Puccinia graminis secalis ), Secale cereale . He also indicated that
Dr. Abbott, during his management at the Headquarters, prepared the bulletin “Diseases of Plants
Cultivated in Peru”, in which he describes all the diseases found up to the date of his withdrawal from
the country. Germán García Rada and J. TO. Stevenson, published in 1942 “The Peruvian Fungal Flora.
“Preliminary List of Fungi that attack plants in Peru”. In 1947, García Rada published his book:
“Agricultural Phytopathology of Peru”, as a result of his 20 years of experience working in this discipline.
Consuelo Bazán de Segura published her book “Diseases of Tropical and Subtropical Crops” in 1965,
and “Diseases of Fruit and Horticultural Crops” in 1975. His contribution to phytopathology was also
manifested with the publication in 1959 of the “Main Diseases of Plants in Peru”, and the “Relation of
Diseases and Pathogenic Microorganisms Isolated from Cultivated, Forest and Ornamental Plants in
Peru”, published in 1973.
For the teaching of some of the Phytopathology courses taught at UNALM, students were provided with
booklets on the topics to be covered. Said material was later compiled in mimeographed texts, thus we
have: Fernández-Northcote, Mont and Fribourg, 1973 “Agricultural Phytopathology”; Icochea, Teresa
Ames de, 1974 “General Phytopathology”; Mont, 1976 “Disease Control of Floors"; Fribourg, 1977
“Phytopathology Agricultural, Tomo YO:
Diseases caused by Viruses, Viroids and Mycoplasmas”; Mont and Fernández-Northcote, 1978
“Agricultural Phytopathology, Volume II: Bacterial Diseases and Fungus”.
Rosendo Shutter and
Germán García Rada, and Teresa Ames de Icochea published in 1977, on the occasion of the
commemoration of the UNALM Diamond Jubilee, two articles about Phytopathology in Peru:
“Phytopathology in the National School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine of Peru , in the period
1919-1960”, and “Phytopathology at the National Agrarian University La Molina”, respectively. In them
they give details of the beginnings of this discipline in the country, highlighting facts about the courses
offered, the pioneering professors, the contribution of Engineer Germán García Rada as the first
Peruvian phytopathologist, and the impetus given to the teaching of this science. with the collaboration
of the technical staff of the Phytopathology Service of the EEA of La Molina, after the transfer of the
ENAV from its initial headquarters in Santa Beatriz to the current one in La Molina; the evolution of the
specialty over time, the training of phytopathological professionals as a post-gradual specialty within the
Agronomy career and as part of the multidisciplinary teams in the different Research Programs of the
UNALM, and to fill the teaching positions of the different Universities and Agrarian Health entities in the
country, Edward French and Teddy T. Hebert published the book “Phytopathological Research
Methods” in 1980, which is used as a text for the Techniques and Methods of Phytopathology course in
the Phytopathology specialty of the UNALM Graduate School. Teresa Ames de Icochea, translated into
Spanish in 1980, the “Compendium of Potato Diseases” and in 1991, the “Compendium of Sweet Potato
Diseases” with authorization from The American Phytopathological Society, which have been published
by the International Potato Center.
The Spanish versions are titled as: “Compendium of Potato Diseases” and “Compendium of Sweet
Potato Diseases (Camote, Boniato)”). In 1996, together with other authors, he published the field guide
“Sweetpotato: Major Pests, Diseases, and Nutritional Disorders”, and finally in 1997, he published his
book “Fungal and Bacterial Diseases of Andean Roots and Tubers”. César Fribourg, published in 2007
his book “Viruses, Viroids and Mollicutes of Plants Cultivated in Peru” in which he pours out his
experience of more than 40 years in work carried out in the field of virology.
Ricardo Mont, published between 1993 and 2008 the following books: “Principles of Plant Disease
Control”, “Integrated Management of Plant Diseases”, “Biological Control as a component of the
Integrated Management of Plant Diseases” and “Diseases of Barley, Wheat and Oats in Peru.
Identification and Integrated Management", and prepared, on behalf of the National Agrarian Health
Service, SENASA, the following manuals: "Manual of Citrus Diseases", "Citrus Fruits and their Diseases,
Second Part", "Papayo and its Diseases" , “El Palto and its diseases”, “El Mango and its diseases”.
DISCUSSION
V History tells us that phytopathology emerged in our country as a need for study due to the low
production yield in wheat, which was previously thought to be due to environmental factors in
agricultural systems, which constitutes our first source of food. .
V Phytopathology began as part of botany at the National School of Agriculture of Santa Beatriz and its
studies were very superficial in terms of analysis at the gene level.
V Phytopathology has been evolving and gaining importance because there is no specific way to
completely eliminate a pathogen, but by interacting with its environment and the host, they create
strains that cross that line of genetic resistance and are again a problem. for plants and their
production.
V Those who give a starting point to phytopathology in our opinion is MANUEL GARCIA Y MERINO
since the first descriptions of anomaly in plants in a qualitative and rudimentary form of wheat rust
on the stems was described as dust in his book " the epidemics in plants on the coast of Peru” and
the one who gives a turning point to the story was ABBOTT describing the 38 physiological forms of
the pathogen
Throughout history, phytopathology has taken on greater importance in agricultural systems and the
various methods to eradicate these diseases have ranged from biological controls of the pathogen
to chemical treatment of plants, but the best and most effective way is to work at the level of the
plant's genetic material, that is, its foundation is to take advantage of the genotype of a resistant
plant wild which has characteristics of
genetic survival (high physiological efficiency of taking advantage of nutrients, resistance and
tolerance.) to introduce them through crossings to plants of commercial interest and beneficial for
food and adopt these superior genotypes that would undoubtedly improve production; This has had
good results in large barley crops for breweries and is currently working with primary products such
as corn, potatoes, etc.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

V Abbott, E. v. 1929. Report of the Head of the Phytopathology Section of the Agricultural Experimental
Station of the National Agrarian Society. In: 1st Report of the Agricultural Experimental Station of the
National Agrarian Society. Lima Peru. pp. 63-68.
{ Ames, T., NEJM Smit, A.R. Braun, J.N. O'Sullivan, and L.G. Skoglund. 199 Sweetpotato: Major Pests,
Diseases, and Nutritional Disorders. International Potato Center (CIP). ISBN 92-9060-187-6. Lima
Peru. 153pp.
V Bazán de Segura, Consuelo. 1959. Main Plant Diseases in Peru. Edited by the Cañete and Ica
Farmers Associations and the Cotton Technical Defense Committee of the National Agrarian
Society. 70 pp. Cañete, May 1959.
V Fernández-Northcote, EN, R. Mont Koc and C. Friborg S. 1973. Agricultural Phytopathology.
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V French, Edward and Teddy T. Hebert. 1980. “Phytopathological Research Methods” 289 pp. IICA
Publishing, Books and Educational Materials No.43. San Jose Costa Rica.
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/ García y Merino, Manuel. 1878. “Plant Epidemics on the Coast of Peru”, 189 pp. Lima Peru. Society
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