What is disease resistance?
Disease resistance refers to the ability of a plant to restrict, slow down, or overcome the effects of a pathogen or insect that would cause disease. There are several types of disease resistance in plants:
- Horizontal resistance - provides resistance to multiple strains of a pathogen rather than just one specific strain. This type of resistance is generally more durable over time.
- Vertical resistance - protects the plant from specific strains of a pathogen. This resistance tends to break down more quickly as new strains evolve.
- Seedling resistance - operates at the seedling stage to protect young plants from disease.
- Adult plant resistance - protects the plant at later stages of growth and development.
There are a few main ways that plants develop disease resistance:
- Natural selection and evolution lead to plants with resistance genes being better fit to survive diseases.
- Traditional breeding can transfer resistance traits from one variety to another.
- Genetic engineering can introduce resistance genes directly into plant genomes.
Growing disease resistant crop varieties is a key pillar of integrated pest management and sustainable agriculture. Some benefits include:
- Reduced use of chemical pesticides and fungicides
- Improved yield and quality
- Lower mycotoxin contamination
- Decreased production costs
Examples of major disease resistant crops include:
- Corn with resistance to northern leaf blight
- Wheat with stem rust resistance
- Papaya resistant to ringspot virus
- Plum trees resistant to plum pox virus
Our crop specialists at Vitality Wellness Clinic stay on top of the latest advances in disease resistant plant varieties. We carry the most robust, high-yielding seeds and can advise you on ideal resistant strains for your growing conditions. Contact us today to protect your crops from pathogens and maximize farm productivity. We look forward to helping you grow your operation successfully!