Ferdowsi University of Mashhad is the third oldest university in Iran.Having started its activities in 1976, this faculty is one of the strongest faculties of Agriculture in Iran, consisting of 10 departments. Before the establishment of the Department of Plant Pathology, Entomology and Pathology laboratories were operating. In 1992, the Department of Plant Pathology began its activities with two Associate Professors and one Assistant Professor. During the next years, this department developed in the educational division by the establishment of graduate programs in the major of Plant Pathology (master’s program in 1976 and doctoral program in 2007) and the major of Agricultural Entomology (master’s program in 2007 and doctoral program in 2013). The development of the department’s physical environment, which had begun with one basic laboratory, has had a mounting increase at the present time with the establishment and development of eight research laboratories, two teaching laboratories, the Entomology Complex, the farm, and five research greenhouses equipped with heating, humidity, lighting control systems and Growth chambers.

The branches in the two majors of this department, Plant Pathology and Agricultural Entomology, include the following:The four branches in the master’s program of the major of Plant Pathology are Mycology, Virology, Prokaryote Plant Pathogens, and Nematology. In Entomology, students study in the branches of Biological Control and Insect Pathology, Ecology and Management, Systematics, and Toxicology branches. The doctoral program has had two sets of graduates, and the first set of doctoral students of Entomology have finished their educational courses and started their thesis research activities.

Exclusive Journal of Plant Protection is the scientific journal of the Department of Plant Pathology, which is published in four issues per year with the cooperation of the department members and is one of the oldest pathology journals in Iran.

The department’s laboratories for conducting research projects in two divisions of Plant Pathology and Agricultural Entomology consist of several separate units. In the Pathology division, four laboratories under the titles of Pathology Laboratory 1, 2, 3, and4 provide the necessary space for the faculty members and doctoral and master’s students. Biological Control and Insect Pathology, Ecology and Pest Management, Acarology, Toxicology and Advanced Research on Basic Entomology are the five laboratories of the Entomology division.

Current programs offered by the Department of Plant Pathology are listed below:

Bachelor’s program

- Plant Protection

Master’s program

- Plant Pathology

- Agricultural Entomology

Doctoral program

A. Plant Pathology

- Mycology

- Prokaryote Plant Pathogens

- Nematology

- Virology

B. Agricultural Entomology

- Biological Control and Insect Pathology

- Ecology and Management

- Biosystematics of Insects and Ticks

- Insect Physiology and Toxicology