Refining ASD for disease management in strawberry and apple production

Authors: Mazzola, Mark; HEWAVITHARANA, SHASHIKA - Washington State University; MURAMOTO, JOJI - University Of California; SHENNAN, CAROL - University Of California

Submitted to: International Conference on Methyl Bromide Alternatives and Emissions Reductions
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/25/2017
Publication Date: 11/27/2017
Citation: Mazzola, M., Hewavitharana, S.S., Muramoto, J., Shennan, C. 2017. Refining ASD for disease management in strawberry and apple production. International Conference on Methyl Bromide Alternatives and Emissions Reductions. p. 4.1-4.2.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) has been studied as an industry level option for replacing soil fumigants to manage soil-borne diseases in both annual and perennial crop production systems. Although ASD has proven effective for the suppression of certain soil-borne pathogens in both strawberry and apple production systems, the extent of disease control attained often varies in a pathogen-specific manner. For instance, although ASD has provided effective suppression of Verticillium dahliae, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. fragariae, causal agent of Fusarium wilt of strawberry, has been among the more intractable targets when attempting to broadly implement ASD as a commercially viable disease control method in strawberry production. In apple, use of ASD for management of apple replant disease has been limited due to various horticultural issues including the availability of effective substrate and integration into the annual production cycle. Studies were undertaken i.) to discern whether incubation temperature, duration or interaction among these variables influenced the disease control efficacy in response to ASD and ii.) evaluate different carbon inputs on efficacy of ASD for the control of target soil-borne pathogens.