Soil solarization and crop rotation to manage root-knot nematodes in organic greenhouses
2014
Vedie, H. | Mateille, T. | Tavoillot, J.
Since 2008, several on-farm experiments were conducted in Mediterranean organic greenhouse cropping systems in France to assess the efficacy of two complementary methods designed to control root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.): soil solarization and crop rotations with non-susceptible host plants. Results showed that soil solarization reduced root and soil infestation of root-knot nematodes in subsequent crops and that nematode suppression gradually increased when used every year. This technique had a short to mid-term effect and reduced the total population of free-living nematodes. For the second method studied, the host status of 15 different vegetable species was assessed in two experiments and five poor-host crops were identified: lamb’s lettuce, rocket salad, onion, leek and fennel. These species were introduced in a 5-year trial to compare the effect of a "poor-host rotation" to a "susceptible rotation" (zucchini-lettuce is commonly practiced) on root-knot nematodes. Results were very encouraging in the first years, but nematode damage reappeared very quickly when a susceptible crop was cultivated after the poor host crops. It was concluded that soil solarization and crop diversification are certainly efficient strategies to manage root-knot nematodes, but they may either provide no sustainable suppressiveness or negatively impact other soil biotic compartments.
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