Plant Doctor Online (PDO) was developed to provide breeders, researchers, field technicians and farmers easy access to the online plant disease diagnosis. By clicking on the Diagnostic Keys, photos of different vegetables appear, and by clicking on the vegetable of interest, a listing of diseases is displayed based on the plant part/parts affected.

 

A link is also provided to the Diseases by Crop, which is a collection of many vegetable disease management guides produced over the years by the Plant Pathology Department of EWS Philippines. The comprehensive information including photos of disease symptoms as observed under natural field conditions in the Philippines and confirmed in the laboratory enhances the use of these guides for plant disease diagnosis. All information will be updated on a regular basis as the need arises (i.e., more recent photos of disease symptoms, recent changes in disease management guides, new diseases).

 

Additional links are also provided, including the Glossary of technical terms in Plant Pathology and other useful links.

 

The main objective of this website is to provide quick diagnostic guide on the most common diseases of vegetables.  Certain diseases, however, may require submission of actual specimen(s) for further laboratory analysis to confirm the cause of the disease.  For example, in virus disease diagnosis identification of the specific virus or virus combinations will require bioassay, serological tests using ELISA or molecular-based detection using PCR.  When sending specimens for confirmation or diagnosis, the plant samples should represent the problem in the field. In this website, we have also provided a guide on how to collect and pack samples for disease diagnosis.