Brassica Biofumigants Improve Onion (Allium cepa L.) and Celery (Apium graveolens) Production Systems

Abstract

Four experiments evaluated effects of brassica cover crops on onion and celery. Treatments included oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus L.), oriental mustard (Brassica Juncea L. Czerniak), brown mustard (Brassica Juncea L. Czerniak), yellow mustard (Sinapis alba L.), and a bare ground control. All brassica cover crops increased celery yield, while only oilseed radish increased onion marketable yield. The brassica cover crops enhanced the population of beneficial microorganisms in the soil of both celery and onion fields. At the same time, the population of plant-parasitic nematodes was reduced, but only in the commercial field that was in continuous celery for many years.