Recent advances in engineering lead to the fabrication of nanomaterials with unique properties targeted toward specific applications. The use of nanotechnology in agriculture, in particular for plant protection and production, is an under‐explored area in the research community. Fungal diseases are one of the leading causes of crop destruction and, in this context, the antifungal effect of nanoparticles of cobalt and nickel ferrite against phytopathogenic fungi is reported here. As a proof of concept, it is also shown how such nanoparticles can be used as fungicides in plants. The developed cobalt and nickel ferrite nanoparticles (CoFe 2 O 4 and NiFe 2 O 4 ) are successfully tested for antimycotic activity against three plant‐pathogenic fungi: Fusarium oxysporum, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides , and Dematophora necatrix . In addition, it is also observed that these ferrite nanoparticles reduce the incidence of Fusarium wilt in capsicum. The study suggests that nanoparticles of CoFe 2 O 4 and NiFe 2 O 4 can be used as an effective fungicide in plant disease management.

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Background Mango anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, is one of the most important diseases of mango crop. It mainly attacks leaves, flowers, young fruits and twigs and also appears as a post-harvest disease of ripened fruits. Application of bio-control agents has huge potential in plant disease management. The goal of the present research was to establish the potential of individual and combined bio-control agents for the management of mango anthracnose under in vitro and under field conditions. Results The antagonistic reaction of six fungi, six bacteria and nine yeasts against C. gloeosporioides on potato dextrose agar medium and malt extract agar medium was observed among which Trichoderma harzianum was found to be the most efficient with 89.26% mycelial growth inhibition. Evaluation of bio-control agents against anthracnose disease development on mango fruit revealed that dip treatment of mango fruits in spore suspension (1.2 × 104 cfu/ml) of T. harzianum for 5 min was the most effective and provided disease control to the tune of 81.67%. Combined application of effective bio-control agents as a post-harvest fruit dip treatment was also evaluated against the mango anthracnose on mango fruits, where the treatment of T. harzianum + Pichia anomala was very effective with 93.39% disease control. Under field conditions, three consecutive sprays of T. harzianum, starting with the initiation of disease on leaves, followed by other two sprays at an interval of 15 days during 2015 and 2016 were found the best for the management of mango anthracnose disease both on leaves and on fruits at two locations. Conclusions The combined and individual applications of bio-control agents, viz.T. harzianum, Bacillus subtilis and P. anomala, through foliar spray or by fruit dip had the potential to control mango anthracnose. The bio-formulations of these bio-control agents had the potential to replace chemical fungicides and also protect the natural environment, thus playing a significant role in integrated disease management.

The cover image depicts a wilted tree with (bottom) and without (top) nanoferrite coating. The tree with the coating revives, while the leaves shred off without the coating. The image highlights the need to develop nanomaterial‐based fungicides to protect plants, addressing a global challenge of saving plant life. Further details can be found in article number 1700041 by Parul Sharma, Adikshita Sharma, Monica Sharma, Nikhil Bhalla,* Pedro Estrela, Aditya Jain, Preeti Thakur, and Atul Thakur*.

Buckeye rot disease of tomato caused by Phytophthora nicotianae var. parasitica is the most destructive disease for reducing tomato yields especially in those regions where fruiting coincides with rainy season. In the present study, the pathogen was characterized by sequencing the DNA region coding for internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region and sequence was deposited in NCBI with accession no. MF398189. The phylogenetic analysis using the Maximum Composite Likelihood (MCL) approach revealed that the isolated pathogen clustered together with P. nicotianae with high bootstrap value of 99%. Incubation period of 120 h was observed in pin-prick method of pathogen inoculation compared to 168 h in surface inoculation method. Further, the disease resistance induced by nine different elicitors of induced resistance against buckeye rot disease of tomato were studied under field conditions for two consecutive years 2016 and 2017. Minimum disease incidence of 9.57% and 7.93% was observed with foliar spray of ß-aminobutyric acid (2 mM) for 2016 and 2017, respectively. It was followed by potassium chloride (100 mM) with disease incidence of 11.32% and 8.85% for year 2016 and 2017, respectively. Maximum fruit yield of 7.02 kg and 8.12 kg was found in treatment with ß-aminobutyric acid as compared to 2.61 kg and 2.55 kg in control for year 2016 and 2017, respectively.