Plant Pathology A page designed for our younger visitors. . .
Plants make up most of the earth's living creatures.
Plants provide, either directly or indirectly, all of our food and the oxygen that we need to survive. Thousands of years ago, when humans first roamed the earth, their food consisted largely of leaves, fruits, and seeds that they picked from plants growing in the wild. Even back then, plant diseases were present. Later, as humans became farmers, diseases became more of a problem as man grew a few types of plants in small areas, which made the spread of disease more likely. The organisms that cause disease in plants are often very similar to those that cause disease in humans and animals.