ESTIMATION OF RATE PARAMETER AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH LATENT AND INFECTIOUS PERIODS IN PLANT DISEASE EPIDEMICS

This paper estimates the logistic rate parameter (R) for three identifiable stages of a plant disease epidemic. Equations are obtained that give R when considering infected, infectious, and removed tissues. The estimations are illustrated using field data on disease progress in a susceptible cultivar of a tropical pasture legume. The importance of such assessments in developing models with higher biological realism is discussed.