Articles
OPTIMIZING ANAEROBIC SOIL DISINFESTATION FOR CALIFORNIA STRAWBERRIES
Article number
1044_25
Pages
215 – 220
Language
English
Abstract
Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD), a biological alternative to soil fumigation, can control soilborne pathogens and nematodes in numerous crop production systems.
To optimize ASD for California strawberries, a series of field and pot experiments have been conducted since 2003. Overall, ASD treatment was shown to be consistently effective at suppressing Verticillium dahlia and obtaining comparable yield with fumigant control in coastal California when 20 t ha-1 of rice bran (RB) was pre-plant incorporated and at least 75 mm of irrigation was applied in sandy-loam to clay-loam soils.
However, due to economic and high nitrogen application issues associated with use of 20 t ha-1 RB, there is interest in examining alternative C sources used in ASD. In the 2012-2013 season, we conducted non-replicated demonstration trials at 4 local farms in which sugarcane molasses (Mol) 20 t ha-1 alone or in combination with RB (Mol 10 t ha-1 + RB 10 t ha-1) were tested.
Although Mol has advantages over RB in terms of ease of application and lower N content, the anaerobic condition created by Mol did not last long and split applications were needed.
Further, cumulative marketable fruit yield from Mol 20 t ha-1 plots were as low as 70% of fumigated controls, whereas RB 20 t ha-1 and Mol 10 t ha-1 + RB 10 t ha-1 plots had similar yields as the control.
Lack of effectiveness in Mol-based ASD may be related to uneven distribution of Mol across the bed profile and low soil temperatures at trial sites.
We also evaluated the potential for eliminating pre-plant fertilizer application when using RB-based ASD at one site.
Pre-plant fertilizer increased fruit yield only ~5%, suggesting a possibility of reducing pre-plant fertilizer at ASD fields.
Future studies should examine other C-sources including summer cover crops combined with a low rate of RB or Mol in ASD.
To optimize ASD for California strawberries, a series of field and pot experiments have been conducted since 2003. Overall, ASD treatment was shown to be consistently effective at suppressing Verticillium dahlia and obtaining comparable yield with fumigant control in coastal California when 20 t ha-1 of rice bran (RB) was pre-plant incorporated and at least 75 mm of irrigation was applied in sandy-loam to clay-loam soils.
However, due to economic and high nitrogen application issues associated with use of 20 t ha-1 RB, there is interest in examining alternative C sources used in ASD. In the 2012-2013 season, we conducted non-replicated demonstration trials at 4 local farms in which sugarcane molasses (Mol) 20 t ha-1 alone or in combination with RB (Mol 10 t ha-1 + RB 10 t ha-1) were tested.
Although Mol has advantages over RB in terms of ease of application and lower N content, the anaerobic condition created by Mol did not last long and split applications were needed.
Further, cumulative marketable fruit yield from Mol 20 t ha-1 plots were as low as 70% of fumigated controls, whereas RB 20 t ha-1 and Mol 10 t ha-1 + RB 10 t ha-1 plots had similar yields as the control.
Lack of effectiveness in Mol-based ASD may be related to uneven distribution of Mol across the bed profile and low soil temperatures at trial sites.
We also evaluated the potential for eliminating pre-plant fertilizer application when using RB-based ASD at one site.
Pre-plant fertilizer increased fruit yield only ~5%, suggesting a possibility of reducing pre-plant fertilizer at ASD fields.
Future studies should examine other C-sources including summer cover crops combined with a low rate of RB or Mol in ASD.
Publication
Authors
J. Muramoto, C. Shennan, G. Baird, M. Zavatta, S.T. Koike, M.P. Bolda, O. Daugovish, S.K. Dara, K. Klonsky, M. Mazzola
Keywords
Fragaria ananassa, soil Eh, large-scale demonstration, biological alternative to fumigant, carbon courses, fruit yield
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