ASD controls soilborne pathogens by creating a fermentation process in anaerobic soil. Several studies funded by grants from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the California Strawberry Commission have allowed the Center for Agroecology to study ASD and optimize the technique for California strawberries.
Additional funds have expanded this initial work to examine the use of cover crops and crop residues as a partial carbon source to reduce the costs and external inputs, and develop thresholds to suppress major lethal soilborne pathogens in strawberries including Verticillium dahliae, Macrophomina phaseolina, and Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. fragariae by ASD.
A 2017 grant of $2.5 million from the USDA is expanding this effort to locations in Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee to help fine tune ASD and integrate the ASD with crop rotation and use of resistant cultivars as a non-fumigant soilborne disease management strategy in different climate zones and crops. Researchers are currently examining suppressive crop rotation using alliums and Summit 515 wheat with and without ASD. Find more information about this research at the Shennan Lab Group website.
Center for Agroecology/UCSC participants: Joji Muramato, Carol Shennan, Darryl Wong, Margherita Zavatta, Jan Perez.
Collaborators: Peter Henry (USDA), Rachael Goodhue (UCD), Mark Bolda (UCCE), Oleg Daugovish (UCCE), Chris Greer (UCCE), ALBA, Driscoll’s, Naturipe, the Oppenheimer Group.
Funding: U.S. Department of Agriculture.