1. Horticulture and its Role in the National Economies.- 2. Phytonematodes -Threat to Horticulture.- 3. Phylogenetic and Evolutionary Concepts in Nematodes.- 4. Major Phytonematodes associated with Horticultural Crops and their Diagnostic Keys.- 5. Symptoms caused by Phytonematodes and Disease Diagnosis.- 6. Nematode Population Threshold Levels.- 7. Crop Loss Assessment.- 8. Nematode Diseases of Horticultural Crops.- 9. Nematode Disease Complexes.- 10. Genetics of Nematode Parasitism.- 11. Nematological Techniques.- 12. Nematodes of Quarantine Importance.- 13. Novel Methods of Nematode Management.- Bibliography.
About the Author: Dr. N.G. Ravichandra obtained his Ph.D. Degree in Plant Pathology with Plant Nematology as specialization, during 1988 from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra Campus, Bangalore, Karnataka, India. He is presently working as Nematologist and Head, All India Co-ordinated Research Project on Plant Parasitic Nematodes, Department of Plant Pathology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Campus, Bangalore, Karnataka, India and is involved in teaching, research and extension activities in Plant Nematology. He has been a major advisor to the Post-Graduate students majoring in Plant Nematology for M.Sc., (Agri.) and Ph.D. Degree Programmes.
Dr. N.G. Ravichandra has over 152 scientific publications to his credit in National & International journals. He has authored three text books entitled 'Plant Nematology', 'Methods and Techniques in Plant Nematology' and 'Fundamentals of Plant Pathology' published by the reputed publishers and contributed chapters to several text books and authored 10 books in Kannada on various aspects of plant protection including nematology. He has also edited books and chapters related to Plant Nematology.
He has participated and presented original papers on various aspects related to phytonematodes in several National and International Conferences. He has undergone Advanced Training Programmes on nematodes sponsored by the Department of Biotechnology & Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India. He has operated research projects pertaining to phytonematodes funded by the Department of Bio-Technology & Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, India as Principal Investigator and Co- Principal Investigator.
He was involved in developing six technologies for the management of root-knot nematodes infecting tomato, brinjal and rice which have been included in the Package of Practices of University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, India for the use by the farmers. He is an active life member for several Professional Societies including Nematological Society of India, Indian Phytopathological Society, Society of Mycology & Plant Pathology, National Environmental Science Academy and Institute of Agricultural Technology.