Apple Replant Disease – Theory Versus Practice, an Overview of Known Controlling Methods
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Apple Replant Disease – Theory versus practice, an overview of known controlling methods By H. Meints & A. Toma Summary In the past decades, several researchers focused their attention on identifying the causes of Apple Replant Disease, along with finding new strategies to prevent and control this important threat to fruit production. From leaving the land fallow, using rotation and control crops to soil fumigation and organic amendments, all has been considered over time. Nowadays, there is a visible tendency on using environmental friendly solutions, along with an increase in banning regulation regarding the chemical products used in EU agriculture sector. Therefore, solutions such as Brassica seed meal soil amendments developed by Mark Mazzola, or Herbie invented by Thatchtec in The Netherlands are the proof that alternatives exist and can be efficient. Field trials have resulted in an almost 100% pathogen suppression and significant yield increase. However, in the case of Herbie and particularly in the trials conducted at Fleuren Tree Nursery in Baarlo, experiments are pushed to their extremes trying to monitories the method’s efficiency and limitations, regarding time frames, larger range of temperature and dosage. What differentiate this later trial from the ones conducted by Mark Mazzola in the US, is that at Fleuren, testing lots are bigger. So far, the results obtained give a positive trend and special attention should be paid not only to the unpredictable weather conditions and temperature from the last period (that are obviously different from the usual values) that can affect the trials, but also try to observe and monitor the soil biodiversity along the tests, complementary to the plant behavior. Apple Replant Disease – Theory versus practice, an overview of known controlling methods H. Meints & A. Toma Contents 1. Background of apple replant disease (ARD) ......................................................................................... 2 2. Control methods applied for ARD ......................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Swapping the soil ................................................................................................................................ 2 2.3 Using compost and compost tea ........................................................................................................ 2 2.4 Using resistant strains ......................................................................................................................... 3 2.5 Testing the soil .................................................................................................................................... 3 2.6 Removing old plant matter ................................................................................................................. 4 2.7 Growing ‘Break Crops’ ........................................................................................................................ 4 2.8 Fumigating the soil .............................................................................................................................. 4 2.9 Alternative methods on fighting ARD ................................................................................................. 4 2.10 Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation ............................................................................................................ 4 3. Experiments and their outcomes .......................................................................................................... 5 3.1 A closer look over microbial community development ...................................................................... 7 3.2 Wheat - the chief mediator ................................................................................................................. 8 3.2 Brassica seed meal amendments as alternative to soil fumigation.................................................... 8 3.3 Herbie – an efficient fighter against soil borne pathogens................................................................. 9 4. Conclusion and recommendations ......................................................................................................... 12 5 Field trials photos ................................................................................................................................ 13 6. Annex 1 ................................................................................................................................................... 16 7.References ............................................................................................................................................... 22 Apple Replant Disease – Theory versus practice, an overview of known controlling methods H. Meints & A. Toma “Innovation is not just technology, but is rather a comprehensive vision of what the future should look like and which requires changes in many ambits. Innovation is driven by people’s needs, ambitions and dreams, and requires that people at different positions in society change the way they work and live.” (Klerkx et al, 2012) 1. Background of apple replant disease (ARD) Replant disease is a debilitating soil problem affecting most orchards when they are replanted. Symptoms normally affect the entire orchard and include slow, uneven growth and poor tree performance. Due to the general nature of replant disease, it is easy to be unaware that it is present, or to blame the rootstock or nursery for poor tree performance. Replant disease affects most fruit crops including both Pome and Stone fruit (Brown,2013). During the life of an orchard, soil-borne pathogens belonging to the genera Rhizoctonia, Pythium, Phytophthora, Cylindrocarpon and Pratylenchus become prevalent in the tree root zone, but they generally do not appreciably affect the health or productivity of mature trees (Mazzola, 1998; Mazzola, 1999). To this date, previous studies categorized replant disease as having two forms - specific and non-specific. It is assumed that specific apple replant disease only affects apples when they are planted after apples, while non-specific replant disease affects apples that are replacing other fruit crops, such as stone fruit or vice versa (Brown,2013). The severity of replant effects can vary from site to site (Hoestra, 1968; Mazzola, 1998). The symptoms mentioned above include reduction in tree vigor and yield (Traquiar, 1984), and the fact that affected trees start bearing fruit 2–3 years later than unaffected trees. According to Mazzola (2004;2009;2015), in apple replant disease, an important aspect to be taken into account is the microorganisms variety built-up in the root zone of the trees, while applying prevention and control strategies. 2. Control methods applied for ARD When it comes to prevention methods and treatments of ARD, opinions vary, as it is a complex disease involving different causal factors. However, we will briefly list the most common measures found in the literature and further discuss some of them more in depth in the latter part of the article. 2.2 Swapping the soil When is needed to replant apple trees in the same location – or if planting in a new location isn’t viable – then soil replacement can be an effective method for smaller sites. It’s important to ensure that high quality soil will be used and moreover, it doesn’t come from any fruit tree planting source. Specialists recommend that the replacing soil should be spread on an area larger than the tree’s roots coverage, while any old soil will be disposed. 2.3 Using compost and compost tea St. Martin and Brathwaite (2012), define composting as “the controlled, microbial aerobic decomposition and stabilization of organic substrates, under conditions that allow the generation of Apple Replant Disease – Theory versus practice, an overview of known controlling methods H. Meints & A. Toma high temperatures by thermophilic microbes, to obtain an end product that is stable and free of pathogens and viable weed seeds and can be used in plant culture. The end product, which is a solid particulate extracted during the maturation and curing phase, is termed compost (Litterick and Wood 2009)”. Further, compost tea can be referred as “filtered products of compost brewed in water (Litterick et al. 2004) and brewing, a steeping process of compost in any solvent (usually water), which lasts for more than one hour “(NOSB 2004). As many previous studies show, soils amended with compost can partly or wholly suppress soil borne phytopathogens and plant diseases (Dickerson 1999; Fuchs 2002; Tilston et al. 2005). Hoitink et al. (1997) argues about “two classes of biological control mechanisms known as "general" and "specific" suppression that have been described for compost-amended substrates. The mechanisms involved are based on competition, antibiosis, hyper parasitism and the induction of systemic acquired resistance in the host plant”. The use of compost as an alternative to fumigation, has gained the attention of both farmers and scientists alike. However, the limited knowledge over the influence of compost usage on the soil biological communities and microbial and metabolic dynamics, doesn’t confer this practice full trust among farmers. When it comes to disease suppressiveness , St. Martin(2015) argues that a higher level was observed where compost mixes were applied before every two croppings compared to those applied only at planting. Moreover, referring to the absence or presence