Phytopathogenic fungal species can cause enormous losses in quantity and quality of crop yields and this is a major economic issue in the global agricultural sector. Precise and rapid detection and identification of plant infecting fungi are essential to facilitate effective management of disease. DNA-based methods have become popular methods for accurate plant disease diagnostics. Recent developments in standard and variant polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays including nested, multiplex, quantitative, bio and magnetic-capture hybridization PCR techniques, post and isothermal amplification methods, DNA and RNA based probe development, and next-generation sequencing provide novel tools in molecular diagnostics in fungal detection and differentiation fields. These molecular based detection techniques are effective in detecting symptomatic and asymptomatic diseases of both culturable and unculturable fungal pathogens in sole and co-infections. Even though the molecular diagnostic approaches have expanded substantially in the recent past, there is a long way to go in the development and application of molecular diagnostics in plant diseases. Molecular techniques used in plant disease diagnostics need to be more reliable, faster, and easier than conventional methods. Now the challenges are with scientists to develop practical techniques to be used for molecular diagnostics of plant diseases. Recent advancement in the improvement and application of molecular methods for diagnosing the widespread and emerging plant pathogenic fungi are discussed in this review.

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A field experiment was conducted to study the effect of combined application of organic manures with recommended inorganic fertilizers (RIF) and to find out the best combination of applications on green pod yield of chilli cv. MIPC-01 (Mahailluppallama Kaludawali Selection). The following five treatment combinations viz. T1-No fertilizer (control plot), T2-100% RIF, T3-50% RIF + 15 t ha-1 cattle manure, T4-50% RIF + 15 t ha-1 cattle manure + 250 kg ha-1 partially burnt paddy husk, T5-50% RIF + 15 t ha-1 cattle manure + 500 kg ha-1 partially burnt paddy husk were laid out in a Randomised Completely Block Design and replicated four times. The measurements related to growth and yield parameters were taken using destructive random sampling method. The results revealed that among the tested fertilizer combinations, there were significant differences (p<0.05) in plant height, root length, number of flowers, average numbers of pod per plant and pod length compared to the control treatment. The application of 50% RIF, 15 t ha-1 cattle manure along with 500 kg ha-1 partially burnt paddy husk produced higher number of pods per plant (10.50 and 24.50) and average pod weight per plant (40.42 g cm and 90.16 g) over the control treatment at 120 and 150 DAT (days after transplanting) respectively. It is concluded that application of 50% RIF with 15 t ha-1 cattle manure and 500 kg ha-1 partially burnt paddy husk is the best combination to obtain higher green pod yield of chilli.

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