A Review and Assessment of Microwave Energy for Soil Treatment to Control Pests

Reports of experimental work on controlling pests such as insects, nematodes, weed seeds, and fungi in soil with microwave energy are reviewed. The assessment of the practicability of microwave radiation for soil treatment to control pests involves estimation of energy costs for heating soil to lethal levels for devitalization of weed seeds and consideration of parameters affecting microwave energy attenuation in the soil, conditions for selectively heating organisms in soil, and other factors that need to be taken into account for practical use. It is concluded that little probability exists for practical application of microwave energy for field control of these pests without major new discoveries of lethal mechanisms other than heating. Reasons include the severe attenuation of microwave energy in soils, the improbability of effective, selective heating of organisms, and the extremely high costs of energy and equipment for such applications.