Response of Strawberry Fruit Yield, Soil Chemical and Microbial Properties to Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation with Biochar and Rice Bran

Abstract

Organic materials added to soil create anaerobic conditions that can reduce soil-borne pathogens that reduce the yield and quality of agricultural crops. Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) requires relatively large quantities of readily available, inexpensive organic materials. We evaluated the impact of ASD with rice bran and biochar organic materials on changes to the soil’s physicochemical properties, microbial taxa, and strawberry fruit yield. We found that the organic materials applied at different dose rates significantly increased the control effect of the soil Fusarium spp. and Phytophthora spp. to 69–99% and 63–98%, respectively. In addition, ASD significantly increased soil organic matter and ammonium nitrogen contents. Strawberry yield also increased significantly after ASD treatment with biochar applied at 10 t/ha, which was positively correlated with increased soil nutrients and a significant reduction in pathogens. High-throughput gene sequencing showed that ASD significantly increased the abundance of some beneficial microorganisms such as Bacillus, Pseudomonas, and Mortierella, possibly due to changes in the soil’s physicochemical properties that favored their survival. We found for the first time that biochar applied at 10 t/ha could create anaerobic conditions that effectively reduced soil-borne pathogens and increased crop yield.