What affects disease severity?

What affects disease severity?

• A. Host susceptibility and weather conditions.
• B. Soil color.
• C. Plant age only.
• D. Sunlight intensity only.

Answer: (A)

Disease severity is driven by how susceptible the plant is and by the environmental conditions that allow a pathogen to infect and multiply. If a plant is stressed, weak, or genetically prone to a disease, it will show more severe symptoms. Weather that favors infection—think high humidity, leaf wetness duration, warm temperatures, and rainfall—helps pathogens establish and spread, increasing severity. Soil color isn’t related to disease severity, and while plant age or sunlight can influence disease to some extent, they don’t determine it as directly as the combination of host susceptibility plus conducive weather.

Disease severity is driven by how susceptible the plant is and by the environmental conditions that allow a pathogen to infect and multiply. If a plant is stressed, weak, or genetically prone to a disease, it will show more severe symptoms. Weather that favors infection—think high humidity, leaf wetness duration, warm temperatures, and rainfall—helps pathogens establish and spread, increasing severity. Soil color isn’t related to disease severity, and while plant age or sunlight can influence disease to some extent, they don’t determine it as directly as the combination of host susceptibility plus conducive weather.