A new method for the control of soilborne plant pathogens was tested for its efficacy in two field experiments during two years. Plots were amended with fresh broccoli or grass (3.4 to 4.0 kg fresh weight m(-2)) or left nonamended, and covered with an airtight plastic cover (0.135 mm thick) or left noncovered. In plots amended with broccoli or grass and covered with plastic sheeting, anaerobic and strongly reducing soil conditions developed quickly, as indicated by rapid depletion of oxygen and a decrease in redox potential values to as low as -200 mV. After 15 weeks, survival of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. asparagi, Rhizoctonia solani, and Verticillium dahliae in inoculum samples buried 15 cm deep was strongly reduced in amended, covered plots in both experiments. The pathogens were not or hardly inactivated in amended, noncovered soil or nonamended, covered soil. The latter indicates that thermal inactivation due to increased soil temperatures under the plastic cover was not involved in pathogen inactivation. The results show the potential for this approach to control various soilborne pathogens and that it may serve as an alternative to chemical soil disinfestation for high-value crops under conditions where other alternatives, such as solarization or soil flooding, are not effective or not feasible.

Biological soil disinfestation (BSD), involving incorporation of grass combined with plastic mulching, eliminates many soilborne pests and diseases through the creation of anaerobic conditions. BSD was compared at two locations with a nontreated control, Italian ryegrass amendment alone, and plastic mulch alone. After the soil treatments, plots were cropped with Acer platanoides and Catalpa bignonioides and grown for 4 years. Relative to the control, soil inoculum levels of Verticillium dahliae were reduced by 85% after BSD and did not increase for 4 years. Populations of Pratylenchus fallax, known for their interaction with V. dahliae, in the soil and in roots were reduced by 95 to 99%. The incidence of infection by V. dahliae was reduced by 80 to 90%. Verticillium wilt severity was significantly reduced in A. platanoides in all 4 years at one location and in the first 2 years at the other location, and significantly fewer plants died at one location. Shoot length and trunk width were larger after BSD compared with the control at one location. Market value of the crop in BSD plots was up to € 140,000 ha-1 higher for A. platanoides and up to € 190,000 ha-1 higher for C. bignonioides than in the untreated control. BSD is an effective, economically profitable, and environmentally friendly control method for tree nurseries.

The potential of Biological Soil Disinfestation (BSD) to control potato brown rot, caused by Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2, was investigated. BSD involves the induction of anaerobic soil conditions by increasing microbial respiration through incorporation of fresh organic amendments (here: grass or potato haulms) and by reducing re-supply of oxygen by covering with airtight plastic sheets. Control treatments were left without cover and amendment, or amended without covering or covered only without amendment. The effect of BSD on survival of R. solanacearum was tested at three different scales: in 1-l glass mesocosms under laboratory conditions, in 1.2-m-diam microplots positioned in an outdoor quarantine field, and in a naturally infested commercial field. Within a few days, anaerobic conditions developed in the BSD-treated soils. In the mesocosm and microplot experiment, anaerobic conditions persisted till the end of the 4-week experimental period. In the field experiment, the period of anaerobiosis was shorter due to birds damaging the plastic cover. In all three experiments, BSD reduced soil populations of R. solanacearum significantly by 92.5% to >99.9% compared to the non-amended and uncovered control treatments. In the field experiment, BSD also resulted in a significant reduction of R. solanacearum survival in potato tubers buried at 15 or 35 cm and in the rapid decomposition of superficially buried potatoes remaining after harvesting, thus destroying an important inoculum reservoir of R. solanacearum. The treatments with grass amendment only or covering with only plastic did not result in anaerobic conditions and did not decrease R. solanacearum populations during the experimental period. PCR-DGGE analyses of 16S-rDNA from soil samples of the various treatments in the mesocosm and microplot experiments revealed that BSD hardly affected bacterial diversity but did result in clear shifts in the composition of the bacterial community. The possible implications of

A survey was made to identify the most important soilborne fungal pathogens of asparagus crops in the Netherlands. Ten plants were selected from each of five fields with a young (1-4 y) first planting, five fields with an old (6-13 y) first planting and five fields with a young replanting. The analysis included fungi present in the stem base and the roots of plants with symptoms of foot and root rot or showing growth decline without specific disease symptoms. Isolates of each species were tested for pathogenicity to asparagus on aseptically grown plantlets on Knop's agar. Symptoms were caused by Fusarium oxysporum, F. culmorum, Botrytis cinerea, Penicillium verrucosum var. cyclopium, Cylindrocarpon didymum, Phialophora malorum, Phoma terrestris and Acremonium strictum. F. oxysporum was by far the most common species and was isolated from 80% of the plants. Not all of its isolates were pathogenic to asparagus. Symptoms were caused by 67%, 78% and 93% of the isolates obtained from young first plantings, old first plantings and replantings, respectively. F. culmorum was isolated from 31% of the plants. Two other notorious pathogens of asparagus, F. moniliforme and F. proliferatum, did not occur in our samples.Species causing symptoms in the vitro test that were found on more than 5% of the plants were additionally tested for their pathogenicity in pot experiments. F. oxysporum f.sp. asparagi caused severe foot md root rot, significantly reduced root weights and killed most of the plants. F. culmorum caused lesions )n the stem base often resulting in death of the plant. P. terrestris, a fungus only once reported as a 9athogen of asparagus, caused an extensive root rot, mainly of secondary roots that became reddish. The :ungus was isolated in only a few samples and is not to be regarded as an important pathogen in Dutch sparagus crops. P. malorum caused many small brown lesions on the stem base and incidentally also n the upper part of small main roots. This is the first report of its pathogenicity to asparagus. The angus is one of the organisms inciting spear 'rust' and it reduced crop quality rather than crop yield. P. errucosum var. cyclopium and C. didymum did not cause symptoms in pot experiments. Because of its predominance on plants with foot and root rot and its high virulence, F. oxysporum sp. asparagi was considered to be the main soilborne pathogen of asparagus in the Netherlands. Ltroduction'paragus (Asparagus officinalis L.) is one of the tin vegetable crops grown in the southeastern part of the Netherlands. The asparagus produced is almost exclusively white asparagus. In this area, asparagus has been grown for several decades and many growers do not have fresh land available.

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