The Plant Pathology department has a distinguished and outstanding contribution in research. The present position and status is preliminarily due to early efforts of many scientist. The department is still a fountain head of all investigations on plant diseases in the state. In the field of Agricultural Bacteriology, the department is a pioneer in the country especially in plant pathogenic bacteria. The separate Plant Pathology discipline was satrted in November,1909 under the control of the Economic Botanist to the Government of Bombay up to 1920. Prof.S.L.Ajrekar joined as Assistant Professor of Mycology in November 1909.
The pioneer work on tikka disease of groundnut, wilt of tur, smuts and downy mildew of jowar, red rot of sugarcane and downy mildew of grapes was carried out in this department. The second Mycologists’ conference held at Pusa in 1919 recommended to strengthen mycological work at Pune and a full fledged department of Plant Pathology came into existence in 1926 with the appointment of Dr. B. N. Uppal as Plant Pathologist. Plant Pathology is being taught as a separate subject since the inception of this college and it is the first Agriculture College in the country to offer a separate subject of Agricultural Bacteriology for Undergraduate and Postgraduate. The devotion and contribution of earlier scientists, this section is enriched by establishing following research schemes under Plant Pathology section at College of Agriculture, Pune
1.All India Coordinated Cotton Improvement Project in 1936.
2. Biological Nitrogen Fixation Scheme in 1957
3.Scheme for Investigations into Control of Ergot of Bajra in 1963
4.All India Coordinated Mushroom Improvement Project in 1983
5. Mushroom Project by National Horticulture Mission, 2011.
Objectives
1.Teaching in U.G and P.G. students of Agriculture and Horticulture subjects in the discipline of Plant Pathology and Agril. Microbiology.
2.Research on Plant Pathological and Agril. Microbiology problems through postgraduate students.
3.Diagnosis of diseased samples and advisory services to the farmers.