Abstract
Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) is widely used to control soilborne diseases in organic crop production. The effect of ASD used different sealed films on soilborne pathogens and strawberry growth was evaluated in two laboratory studies and two field trials. Under maltose as carbon sources, 28 °C temperature and 30% of soil moisture optimal conditions ASD decreased Fusarium spp. and Phytophthora spp. by 100%. ASD used maltose as an organic amendment and sealed with totally impermeable film (TIF) obtained the highest suppression (>96%) against Fusarium spp. and Phytophthora spp. (>91%). According to the laboratory results, the efficacy of ASD utilizing 6 or 9 t/ha maltose and sealing with TIF was evaluated and compared with reference treatment with chloropicrin (Pic) or solarization (Sol) in the field trials. Compared with the untreated soil, ASD treatments greatly reduced the pathogenic population of Fusarium spp. and Phytophthora spp., and successfully controlled the damage of fusarium wilt with evidence of lower mortality (6%). ASD significantly increased soil nutrition promoted plant growth and increased strawberry yield, which was similar as the Pic, but better than Sol treatment. The analyzed fungal and bacterial microbiota did not show significant differences in the taxonomic richness and diversity between the compared treatments. Nevertheless, the abundance of some bacterial and fungal taxa tended to change between treated. The evidence showed that adding maltose and sealing TIF for ASD has the potential to replace Pic for pathogen control in commercial strawberry production.
Highlights
With the rapid development of the strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) industry, China had 133,685 ha of land planted strawberries which was more than 25% of the world’s strawberry production area in 2017 [1]
The specific objectives of this study were (1) to determine the optimal experimental conditions with orthogonal experimental design in the lab, and (2) to reveal the suitability of the films for Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD), and (3) to evaluate the efficacy of maltose as a carbon source when sealed with totally impermeable film (TIF) on ASD control of soilborne diseases and assay the responses of strawberry yield performance, soil physical and chemical changes and soil bacterial and fungal microbial communities shift after fumigation
Twenty-seven treatments based on an orthogonal design were carried out to assay the effect of ASD on Fusarium spp.; (FUS) and Phytophthora spp.; (PHY) (Table S2)
Summary
With the rapid development of the strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) industry, China had 133,685 ha of land planted strawberries which was more than 25% of the world’s strawberry production area in 2017 [1]. Soil disinfestation with broad-spectrum chemical fumigants such as chloropicrin (Pic), metam sodium (MS) can effectively control soilborne diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, nematodes, weeds and soil pests, leading to improved crop quality and yield [7,8]. These fumigants pose a potential risk to the health of fumigators and the surrounding environment. By modifying the microbial populations, these fumigants could interfere with the soil nitrogen cycle including mineralization [11] and nitrification reduction [12], which in turn affects crop fertilization, quality and yield [13] These negative side-effects have encouraged the search for alternatives that growers can use to control soilborne diseases
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