P-082 - Optimization of Biologicals and ASD Combination Treatment for Managing Soilborne Diseases

Abstract Text: Soil-borne fungal and bacterial pathogens cause significant losses to fruits and vegetables by inciting
root problems, including vascular wilt diseases. General recommendations for managing soil-borne pathogens are to rotate fields or fumigate soil with synthetic fumigants. However, organic growers cannot use synthetic fumigants and small conventional growers are not equipped for complicated application methods or are obstructed by new regulations. Similarly, unavailability of suitable land areas to rotate warrants developing a multi-tactics-based integrated pest management (IPM) method for biorational management of these notorious soil-borne pathogens. Our research and on-farm trials for the last few years with multiple treatment options were able to identify the best combination {(seedling production on probiotic bacteria treated media followed by planting in anaerobically disinfested soil (ASD)} treatment that provided the highest efficacy in managing soilborne diseases. C-source used for ASD can determine the efficacy and net return as prices of C-source can vary widely. Inexpensive C-sources such as grape pomace, biochar, rice and wheat bran were tested in this study for their efficacy. Different combinations of C-source and biologicals provided significantly (P≤0.004) different disease suppression and differently influenced yield of tomatoes and strawberries. These results may motivate growers to adopt the technology due to economic feasibility.