K. F. Bakhshaliyeva, A. Kh. Rajabli, A. G. Eyvazov, G. A. Gasimova, and P. Z. Muradov, from the institute of Azerbaijan. wrote a Research article about, Major Cucumber Diseases and Their Pathogens in Azerbaijan. Entitled, The main diseases of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) grown in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the species composition of pathogens of these diseases. This research paper published by the International Journal of Biosciences | IJB. an open access scholarly research journal Biosciences. under the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.
Abstract
Cucumis sativus L.
plant cultivated in open and covered conditions in the Republic of Azerbaijan,
was studied for phytopathogenic fungal biota. It has been determined that a
total of 15 fungal species are involved in the formation of the phytopathogenic
mycobiota of cucumber plants. Although more than half of the recorded fungi
showed phytopathogenic properties in both conditions, overall, covered
conditions were more favorable for the development of fungal. The reason for
this is that the parameters that are important for plants in covered conditions
are favorable for fungi, and these parameters are relatively more stable in
covered conditions. The species involved in the formation of the
phytopathogenic mycobiota of cucumber plants had a certain specificity in terms
of the prevalence of the diseases they caused, the forms of observation, and
the effect of the effects. Although some of them cause diseases with the same
name and have similar symptoms, it has been determined that each disease also
has symptoms that arise from the biological characteristics of the fungus
itself.
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Introduction
In modern times,
providing people with plant-based food products is one of the important issues
that any country plans to solve. The importance of this issue is necessitated
by the increasing world population within the fixed territory of the Earth, the
increasing burden of anthropogenic impact on the environment the decrease in
useful land areas used by people for various purposes, the expansion of
urbanization, and other processes. Thus, according to UNO forecasts, the world
population is expected to reach 10.3 billion in 2084, which allows us to note a
1.5-fold increase (Choręziak et al., 2025; Australian Government, 2024) in
population compared to 2024. This, in turn, will inevitably create additional
problems in meeting the growing population's demand for various substances,
primarily food. Therefore, conducting research aimed at solving these problems
is currently one of the most relevant.
It should be noted
that, against the background of the above, meeting people's needs for
nutrients, especially those of plant origin with relatively high biological
value, is one of the tasks that is in the focus of special attention (Choręziak
et al., 2025). Research conducted to address these issues mainly covers two
areas. The first direction is that it includes increasing the productivity of
plants used for this purpose, eliminating conditions that cause crop losses,
implementing cultivation with more efficient technologies, and so on. The
second direction involves the creation of new varieties that are productive,
disease-resistant, capable of growing under stressful conditions, and have
other characteristics. Sometimes these two directions are carried out in a
mixed manner.
Regardless of this, the
purpose of conducted research in both directions is to improve both the
quantity and quality of the products produced.
As in a number of
countries around the world, the agricultural sector plays an important role in
the economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, so cereals, vegetables, melons, fruits,
etc. are cultivated throughout the country, and hundreds of thousands of tons
of crops are harvested every year (Babayeva et al., 2025). For example, about
50% of the country's 86.6 thousand km2 area is occupied by usable land in
which, according to data from 2024, 1,685,734.0 tons of wheat, 22,206.6 tons of
legumes, 490,558.2 tons of melons, 1,838,903.3 tons of vegetables, and
1,317,868.2 tons of fruit were grown (State Statistical Committee of
Azerbaijan, 2025). Despite this, the volume of products produced does not fully
meet the needs of the country's population even today, and therefore the issue
of increasing productivity and reducing crop losses is of greater importance
for the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Vegetables are among
the plants widely cultivated in the Republic of Azerbaijan, as the cultivation
of vegetable plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, etc. is found in
all regions of the country (Huseynov et al., 2020). Sometimes the expected
yield cannot be obtained from these plants, and one of the reasons for this is
the result of diseases caused by various organisms, primarily fungi
(Bakshaliyeva et al., 2023; Muradov et al., 2019). To prevent this, it is
important to determine the species composition of these pathogens.
Therefore, the purpose
of the presented work is to determine the species composition of diseases and
their causative agents observed in cucumber plants cultivated under covered
conditions in Azerbaijan.
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Article source : The main diseases of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) grown in the Republic of Azerbaijan and the species composition of pathogens of these diseases
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