In recent years, researchers around the world have been concentrating their efforts on developing environmentally friendly techniques for soil disinfestation. In this sense, specialists from the INTA San Pedro (Buenos Aires) are working in the application of solarization combined with bio-fumigation to take care of the soils, a technique that has demonstrated a high potential to control weeds and pathogens, said the INTA.
Mariel Mitidieri, a specialist in integrated management of diseases in intensive crops from the INTA said, "the combination of both techniques reduces the use of pesticides in the production of vegetables and flowers, as they don’t use toxic compounds."
Biosolarization, which aims at producing a crop with low levels of chemicals and techniques that have low environmental impact, allows producers to give their products added value so they can better position them in the market.
Mitidieri said solarization was “the use of solar energy to pasteurize the soil with the aim of reducing the population of pathogens and weeds without using synthetic chemical pesticides." The INTA specialist also said that "bio-fumigation is the control of pests and pathogens from the ground via the release of compounds that arise naturally from the decomposition of organic waste."
Although the results depend on the degree of infestation of the crop, Mitidieri said that "tomato crop yields, in a greenhouse with high presence of nematodes and pathogens in the soil, may increase up to 40% after applying biosolarization to the soil."
"The adoption of these techniques is necessary as part of a comprehensive management," she said. Furthermore, Mitidieri recommended producers to "plan the activities in the greenhouse through the design of a system that determines the optimal times for bio-fumigating or applying biosolarization to the soil to avoid economic losses."
According to Mitidieri, "the experiences we’ve had indicate that the most effective thing to do is to combine both techniques, because the input of organic matter counteracts the loss produced by mineralization caused by high temperatures". Mitidieri also said it could be applied to all productions, but that these techniques were most useful for vegetable and flower crops.
Source: caa.nearural.com