Optimizing anaerobic soil disinfestation for fresh market tomato production: Nematode and weed control, yield, and fruit quality

Abstract

2017-08-25T16:27:31

Economic Analysis of Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation for Open-field Fresh-market Tomato Production in Southwest and North Florida

“…In both locations and for all the soil disinfestation treatments tested, before mulching the beds with TIF, all the experimental plots were split into two portions (sprayed and not sprayed), with one-half of each plot area treated with 0.75 oz/acre halosulfuron-methyl (Sandea; Gowan Co., Yuma, AZ) preemergent herbicide. The herbicide application influenced weed control, but not total marketable yield or fruit quality in either location (Guo et al, 2017). Therefore, for the purpose of the economic analysis, the average yield of plots with and without herbicide application was considered.…”

“…At Immokalee, biweekly (twice per week) fertigation was used, starting 3 weeks after transplanting, whereas Citra used weekly fertigation, starting 7 d after transplanting. The fertilization program information was detailed in Guo et al (2017). The posttransplant fertigation resulted in the application of 161 lb/acre N and 263 lb/acre K in Immokalee and 144 lb/acre N and 159 lb/acre K in Citra.…”

“…Both ASD treatments had higher tomato yields than CSF in Immokalee, FL, but ASD1 had a lower yield than CSF in Citra, FL. This was likely due to a high soil fertility in ASD1 plots, and the cultivar used in Citra, FL, may have responded to the high fertility level by decreasing or delaying flowering and fruit set, as suggested by Guo et al (2017). Higher yield leads to higher total harvest cost, which is closely related to yield, whereas at the same time, higher yield generates a higher gross return as there is no significant Table 7.…”

“…ASD has been applied for suppressing pests and diseases in andisol, alluvial, and sandy soils, as well as artificial substrates, in several cropping systems under various environmental conditions (Lamers et al, 2010;Momma et al, 2013;Rosskopf et al, 2015;Shennan et al, 2014;Strauss and Kluepfel, 2015). In many studies, ASD resulted in higher or similar crop yields to those achieved using chemical fumigation methods Di Gioia et al, 2016;Guo et al, 2017;Korthals et al, 2014;Mazzola et al, 2018;Paudel et al, 2018). Researchers in the Netherlands used ASD successfully in asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) and strawberry (Fragaria ·ananassa) production by combining different techniques, such as soil solarization, organic amendment applications, and soil saturation (Molendijk et al, 2009).…”

“…Most previous studies focused on the biological impacts of ASD, examining the effects on disease and pest suppression (Rosskopf et al, 2015), microbial communities (Guo et al, 2018;van Agtmaal et al, 2015), crop yield, plant growth, and nutrient cycling Di Gioia et al, 2017), rather than on the economics (costs and returns) of ASD. In Florida, in an attempt to increase ASD adoption as an alternative to chemical fumigation on a large scale, a consistent effort has been made in recent years to develop a more sustainable and economically feasible ASD method concerning optimization of inputs needed for ASD treatment (Di Gioia et al, 2016, 2017Guo et al, 2017;Paudel et al, 2018). However, the search for alternative approaches to reduce the costs while maintaining or increasing yields making ASD more affordable to growers, continues to be a major task for ASD research.…”