WHAT IS MYCOLOGY ?
The term “Mycology’ etimologically means “the study of fungi”. Fungi are highly evolved forms of microorganisms included in the division “Thallophyta” in the botanical classification of the plant kingdom.
It is interesting to note that many of the botanist have specialised in mycology and plant pathology. The first Indian universities that were established in 1857 at Calcutta, Bombay and Madras emphasised fungal taxonomy.
The organized teaching in mycology and plant pathology as a part of agricultural sciences was being undertaken by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. Fungi are ubiquitous in nature i.e. they are present in soil, water, air etc
PLANT PATHOLOGY
The term ‘Pathology’ is derived from two greek words ‘pathos’ and ‘logos’. ‘Pathos’ means suffering and ‘logos’ means the study / to speak / discourse. Therefore if etymologically means “study of suffering”. Thus the plant pathology is the “study of suffering plants”. When the plant is suffering i.e. not developing and functioning in the manner it is expected, then it is called as diseased. Due to this abnormality, the productivity of the plant is reduced or lost.
