Spread and distribution
Knowing how your pest or problem infects and moves between plants or areas may be important in preventing infestations in the first place. It also helps you to limit the damage. For example, viral diseases can be spread by infected plant parts, equipment and soil.

This will mean that, to avoid infection, you will have to take measures against this happening with sanitation controls.

Some weeds may not actually cause a problem if they are growing in between rows, for example, and are not competing with your crop. It is not until they set seed and start to spread in amongst your plants that these weeds become a problem. Their seedlings should therefore be controlled, not their growth.

Click here to open a table which shows different weed characteristics, the ways they spread and the means of spread and distribution.

Now let's take a look at some disease pathogens and the ways they spread.

Disease Pathogens include insect and nematode pests, fungus, bacteria and viruses.

Click here to open a table which shows the different ways in which disease pathogens spread and the management issues that arise.