Seoul Teachingandresearchinplantpathology 1957 08.Pdf
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.. I\._ ___ __ LS6l h. /\ON ,.., / REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS On Teaching and Research in PLANT PATHOLOGY Department of Biology, College of Agriculture Seoul National University by - Thomas H., ~g . AQvis~r in Agriculture Seoul National University Cooperative Project (Professor of Plant Pathology, Institute of Agriculture) ( University of Ydnnesota ) Seoul, Korea August, 1957 Acknowledgements Summary of recommendations Imrortance of plant pathology in Korea Present control practices Chemical availability Trained plant pathologists now in Korea Plant pathological training in Korea Seoul National University College of Agriculture Departments Staff Student enrollment Department of Biology Biology Curriculum (undergraduate) Undergraduate teaching in plant pathology Plant pathology staff Plant pathological course additions to Biology Curriculum Graduate teaching in plant pathology Requirements for Master of Science degree Increasing of course credit Suggested additions of graduate courses in plant pathology Additional staff for plant pathology Teaching methods Staff Research Recommended fUrther research in plant pathology Publication on research Additional equipment recommended for plant pathology 1 Appendix I.. Lecture~ presented during assignment II. Colleges and experiment stations visited while in Korea III. List of diseases collected and identified while on assignment in Korea IV o List of College of Agriculture teaching staff in 1957 V. Summary of Discussions with Hoo Sup Chung in California 2 SUMMARY More than 100 plant diseases were collected and identified during the assignment in Korea.. Every major crop was found to be affected l'Jith one or more well known destructive diseaseso Losses as high as 80 percent of the total stand of plants occurred and it vas not unusual to find at least a 30 percent reduction in yield in most all the important crops grown in Korea .. Attempts are being made to control plant diseases by the application of fungicides and the use of resistant varieties when available.. However, control is ineffective because the proper fungicide is not used for the disease concemed; the applications are not timed correctly to control the disease; the spray equipaent is inadequate to cover the plant thoroughly with the fungicide; and often the chemicals applied cause more injury to the crops than the disease o Many good fungicides are being imported into Korea for the control of plant diseases and in addition there are a number of agricultural chemical companies formulating fungicidal sprays and dusts.. At the present time, Sulphur, Fermata, Ceresan M, Captan, Arasan, Calcium Ceresan, Bordeaux Mixture and Liquid Lime Sulphur are available and many of the diseases that are now causing enormous losses could be controlled, if there were trained plant pathologists to provide the necessary technical information. As far as the adviser could determine there are no trained Korean plant pathologistso There are a few graduates of the Biology Department of the College of AgJ."'iculture of Seoul National Uni varsity who have Bachelor of Science degrees and are teaching plant pathology in some of the provincial agricultural colleges o The same is true of personnel in charge of the plant pathology sections of the national and provincial 1 expariment ~tations" It appear:s that there ~1&e: been little realizat.i0n on the part of the agricultural administrators of the im:rorlance of plant diseases and as a result the existing plant pathology sections are staffed with inadequately trained as well a~ poorly paid personnel .. The greatest service that the College of Agriculture of Seoul National University could render to Korean agriculture and welfare of Koreans would be the developnent of an outstanding department of plant pathology for training the plant pathologists necessary to control the diseases of Korean crope .. It is recommended that the Department of Biology Curriculum of the College of Agriculture be reorganized to permit a student to specialize in plant pathology in his undergraduate training.. It will be necessary to add some new plant pathological courses, change some required courses to elective courses and in some cases reorganize or consolidate existing courses., A plant pathology major should learn more about. the crops he will be working with than is required in the present biology curriculum .. The Biology Curriculum for Master of Science degree candidates as now constituted requires that a student take the same wide range of subjects that he took in his undergraduate studies. It would seem advisable for the candidate to specialize more in his chosen field, especially in the case of those interested in plant pathology since they are exposed to only a few courses in this specialized profession in the undergraduate curriculum., A system of major and minor courses could be specified in the requirements for both the Master of Science and Doctor 'of philosophy degrees .. To adequately train candidates to become professional plant pathologists, it is recommended that seventeen new courses be gradually developed for addition to the curriculum in the next ten years .. 2 The moet, urgent and pressi.ilg problem facing the Co11 ege of f :.:.;ricu1b.u"e is the selection and training of at least five more students fo:r st:1fi' positions in the field of plant pathology., These students should be eent to the United States for advanced training to include obtaining the Doctor of philosophy degree as soon as possible. They would be the nucleus of a staff for organizing a separate department of plant pathology in the near future and would be capable of training additional persormel in Korea for the profession of plant pathology., It is conservatively estimated that in addition to developing a strong teaching and research department of plant pathology at the College of Agriculture, Korea needs in the next ten years at least 50 trained plant pathologists to ~tu~ and develop controls for the plant diseases that are causing tremendous losses to their major crops. In addition to training professional plant pathologists, the College of Agriculture also has the responsiblity of educating the associated fields of agriculture of the importance of plant diseases to crop production, quality, and is also essential in breeding for disease resistance if it is to be on a sound basis. It was gratifying to find that in addition to their teaching duties many of the staff were doing research and this was especially true of those staff members who had studied at Minnesota. Research should be encouraged wherever possible for besides the personal satisfaction that a staff member achieves, it also enhances his teaching knowledge and :in most cases makes him a more stimlating teacher a8 well as adds to the material wealth of the country"' 3 ACKNOW~txz'"'E1@LNT.:} I want to take this opportunity to thank the staff of the College of Agriculture for the many courtesies and fine cooperation that they extended to me during my assignment in Korea as Adviser to the College of Agriculture, Seoul National University.. Dean Cho wa~ most considerate of giving his time and energies to arranging for conferences with staff, organizing field trips to other agricultural institutions and in general making the assignment a genuine pleasure.. It is hoped that I may have the opportunity of continuing to work in the future with the many fine College of Agriculture staff members in solving some of the Korean agricultural problemso In addition I should like to acknowledge the excellent assistance and guidance of the Chief Adviser in Korea to the Seoul National University Cooperative Project, Dro Arthur E.. Schneider.. Without his assistance m1d that of Miss Gertrude Koll, it tiOuld have been virtually impossible to effectively comPlete the Korea assignmento 4 ImE!?rtan_g~ of Plant P~}}Qlogy _!n K~ On arrival in Korea Ms.y 1, 1957, and through effortB of President Yun of Seoul National University, Dean Cho of the College of Agriculture and Dr. Arthur E. Schneider, Chief Adviser of the Mmnesota ~roject, the adviser became acquainted with the organization and administration of the University; the Korean colleagues and leaders in the technical area concemed; the details of curricula, courses, teaching methods and research of the staff members in the area concerned, and attempted to beco~ acquainted with the problem of teaching and researche Every opportunity was taken to gain first-hand knowledge of the country, its people and their aspirations, potentialities and limitations. In addition, an effort was made to leam as much as possible in a short time about Korean agriculture; the crops grow-a; methods of planting, cultivation and harvesting; fertilization and rotations and especially to determine the occurrence, distribution and severity of plant diseases effecting the essential food and oil cropso Approximately 35 field trips were taken to observe crops growing within a radius of 35 miles of Suwon as well as survey trips to Pusan. Taegu, Kyungju and Chunchon.. More than 100 diseases were identified and found to be causing severe losses in yield on many of the cropso In addition many diseases were found which the adviser did not have time or facilities to identify.. Every major crop grown in Korea was found to be affected with one or more well kno~nt dest~~ctive diseases • . The types of diseases ranged from soil borne root rots, stem rots~ leaf spots, to fruit and seed rots~ Many of the most serious diseases are air-disseminated or insect transmitted., Work in other parts of the 5 world has shown that to devel~p eontrol methods throug..h the use of resistant varieties, certified seed, or by application of cherrdcals 1 many years or research are necessary., For instance, it takes about ten years to develop a rust resistant variety of wheat or barley., It will take even longer if prior research has not indicated the prevalence of the parasitic races of the organism that are present in the area arid something of the nature of the resistance of the various varieties that are used for parents~ In all the areas surveyed, the same types of diseases were found and varied only in their prevalence and severity.