Plant pathology (or phytopathology) is the study of diseases, injuries, and other factors affecting the welfare of plants. It is an applied discipline, with the ultimate goal of achieving plant health, as indicated by a condition in which physiological functions (including growth) are carried out to the limits of the genetic potential. Plant pathologists seek to understand and control the ecological factors affecting the production of economically useful plants (plants that can be used profitably) and their products. These include the availability of appropriate regimes of environmental factors (such as light, water, nutrients, and temperature); the effects of parasites and predators (or herbivores); and infectious agents (or pathogens).

Plant pathology incorporates elements of many subject areas, including botany (the study of plants, including anatomy, physiology, genetics, and biochemistry); bacteriology (bacteria); mycology (fungi); nematology (nematodes); virology (viruses); chemistry; ecology (the influence of environmental factors on organisms and...