A- Section Staff:
Head of the Section
Prof. Dr. Mohamed Refa'at Rasmy
Section members
|
Section Staff |
No. |
|
Chief Researcher (Professor Doctor) |
3 |
|
Senior Researcher |
2 |
|
Researcher |
4 |
|
Researcher Assistant (Lecture Assistant) |
4 |
|
Assistant Researcher |
1 |
|
Agriculturists and Technicians |
2 |
B- Activities:
- Conducting
surveys of plant diseases attacking crops important to Egyptian agriculture.
- Continuing identification of plant pathogens.
- Maintenance and preservation of Egyptian-type collection
of fungi.
- Maintenance and preservation of the Egyptian herbarium.
C- Achievement:
Since 1968, the Type Culture
Collection of Egyptian Fungi has been maintained. Disease survey is another key function to all aspects of the work of collection
and isolation has been carried out in all governorates. Identification, purification and maintenance of plant pathogens are
an ongoing job.
The mycology branch of the Mycology
and Plant Disease Survey Section is active both nationally and internationally. Soil solarization for the control of soilborne
disease is an important project under the tri-national cooperative agreement between the USA, Egypt and Israel. Soil solarization
is the practice of applying plastic to the surface of the soil, in the absence of plants, during a warm period. This has the
effect of raising the soil temperature to levels capable of killing not only plant pathogens, but insects and weeds as well.
Promising results have been achieved
in onion, broad bean, strawberry, and tomato, among many other crops.
One of the national projects
the mycology group has been responsible for was the interaction of seed and soilborne fungi and nematodes in disease complexes.
This research was critical in proving the importance of root-knot nematode in increasing the infection of peanut with fungal
causal agents of seedling damping off and pod rot. Another survey revealed the fungi and nematodes associated with wilted
tomato plants. These studies have led to control methods aimed at the complex of organisms causing the disease and are better
than a single control method approach.
Institute Achievements in Personnel
Development and Organization
Members of PPATHRI participate
in the many training programs available to ARC scientists. These training opportunities include Scientific Writing Workshops,
sponsored by the National Agricultural Research Project (NARP) and the ARC conducted by members of the Consortium for International
Development (CID) through NARP. PPATHRI scientists take part in a week-long workshop designed to their skills in technical
writing and professional journal submission.
Another program, in cooperation with Canada, called the
Canada-Egypt-McGill Agricultural Response Program (CEMARP), is developing a computerized Research Activities Information System
(RAIS) to serve scientists, research managers, administrators and policy markers. Trainers complete two workshops on database
input and another on database analysis. As a result, a 58 page brochure was issued for PPATHRI which contained biodata and
research information for all staff members. CEMAPP provided the institute with computer hardware and software necessary for
the database construction. There are current negotiations and a proposal to improve the current network.
