Understanding how to design and interpret disease screening experiments is essential for developing resistant plant varieties and improving research accuracy. Plant Disease Screening: Design, Data, and Discovery introduces you to the principles and practical approaches used in evaluating plant responses to pathogens — from setting up trials to analysing the results.

This course guides you through the core steps of screening design, including selecting test genotypes, managing controls, and applying the Randomised Complete Block Design (RCBD) for reliable outcomes. You will learn how to use Disease Incidence (DI) and Disease Severity Index (DSI) to assess plant reactions, and how to interpret these data meaningfully.

The course also provides a practical introduction to data analysis using R, helping you transform raw observations into clear, evidence-based conclusions.

Designed for students, early-career researchers, and agricultural professionals, this course builds the skills and confidence to conduct structured screening experiments with scientific precision.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Understand the purpose and design of plant disease screening.

• Differentiate between screening and virulence testing.

• Apply DI and DSI to measure disease responses.

• Design and analyse data using RCBD and R.

Take your first step into practical plant pathology — where observation becomes discovery.