Ironically, I have a relatively lower rating for this field although I am plant pathology major and have a several units in entomology. If you are plant pathology major, it is better to just review the basics and focus more in entomology. It is an advantage for entomology major because based on my assessment; 70-80% was taken from entomology.
Though, you are either plant pathology or entomology major graduate, do not be confident with what you learned from school. Look for publications (leaflets, flyers, newsletter, and the like) of different attached agencies of the Department of Agriculture or research institutions like the CIP (Potato International Center), Abaca Research Center, INIBAP, PhilRice/IRRI, PCA (Philippine Coconut Authority), etc. Check for the most devastating diseases/insect pest of their focus commodity, specifically the recent economically important diseases and insect pests.
For specific points (for non plant pathologists):
- be sure to know the difference between sign and symptoms
- what are the different signs of the different pathogens (mycelium, cyst, egg, bacterial cells,
- as well as non-parasitic agents of plant diseases
- principles and methods of plant disease control (protection, exclusion, eradication, and immunization; sanitation, cultural, physical, chemical, biological, regulatory, resistant varieties)
- disease cycle, epidemiology
- colonization of the different pathogens
- just for safety net, learn also the most common scientific names of the causal organism of common diseases. Sometimes, knowing them pay off.
For non-entomologists:
- what is a pest? Insect pest?
- Economic injury and economic injury level?
- know the different orders of insects – what are the distinguishing characteristics of one order from the order, ex. What is the most common example of insect under the Order coleoptera, homoptera, etc.
- learn the different parts of the insect, ex. which is the thorax, tibia, coxa?
- Methods of insect pest control?
- Understand the concept of integrated pest management
- Learn pesticide computation, although only few and simple computations were asked, it is also advantageous to learn deeper about their computation. Simple tip: Review 1 problem; remember what the unknown is and how the answer was derived. Just remember 1 problem for each question pattern.
-
Ahh, I almost forgot. There is another aspect of crop protection, the weed science. Learn weed science as a discipline. How weeds are classified and identified, what are the major categories/classification of weeds? Know the most common weeds of the Philippines.
Most importantly, as I have observed in this field, a portion of the exam tackled on the application of the different principles in plant pathology and entomology. Be ready with your analytical mind.
Links:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment