Assessment of Agro-Industrial Wastes as a Carbon Source in Anaerobic Disinfestation of Soil Contaminated with Weed Seeds and Phytopathogenic Bacterium (Ralstonia solanacearum) in Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Managing weeds and soil-borne pathogens is one of the most challenging aspects of organic crop production. Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) has been identified as a microbial-driven approach capable of suppressing weed species and soil-borne pathogens. The carbon substrate is a critical component of ASD that can be optimized to enhance pest control effectiveness. To assess this potential, a microcosm greenhouse study was conducted to determine the differential impact of agro-industrial waste streams as carbon sources, using molasses + mustard meal (MMM), molasses + chicken manure (MCM), molasses + corn gluten (MCG), and molasses + sweet potatoes (MSP) in anerobic or aerobic soil conditions (covered and not covered with plastic film) on bacterial wilt (caused by Ralstonia solanacearum ), weed suppression, soil anaerobic conditions, and tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.) crop health. Under anaerobic conditions, the carbon sources effectively controlled weeds by 75–96% compared with no carbon source (NCS) and aerobic treatment and greatly reduced or eliminated Ralstonia solanacearum populations from initial 5.6 to final 0 Log 10 (CFU + 1) g –1 dry soil. No phytotoxic effects were observed in tomato plants transplanted 14 days after ASD treatments. These findings encourage further investigations on the interactions of ASD with soil chemistry and microbial biomass in the context of pest management.