PRODUCTION OF POTTING MIXES PREDICTABLY SUPPRESSIVE TO SOILBORNE PLANT PATHOGENS

MARKETING OF COMPOSTS PREPARED FROM YARD WASTES INCREASINGLY BEING DIVERTED FROM LANDFILLS WILL BECOME A PROBLEM. DURING MATURATION, COMPOSTS ARE NATURALLY RECOLONIZED BY BENEFICIAL MICROORGANISMS THAT PROVIDE BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF SOME SOILBORNE PLANT DISEASES. CONTROLLED ADDITION OF SPECIFIC BIOCONTROL AGENTS TO COMPOSTS, FOLLOWED BY FORMULATION OF POTTING MIXES WITH THIS PRODUCT INDUCES PREDICTABLE SUPPRESSION TO THE MOST IMPORTANT SOILBORNE PLANT PATHOGENS. THIS APPROACH TO DISEASE CONTROL PROMISES TO SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCE PESTICIDE USE, IMPROVES COMPOST QUALITY AND ENHANCES OPPORTUNITIES FOR RECYCLING OF SOLID WASTES THROUGH COMPOSTING. THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PHASE I PROPOSAL ARE 1) TO SCALE-UP THE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE CONTROLLED ADDITION OF BIOCONTROL AGENTS TO COMPOSTS AND 2) TO DEVELOP A POTTING MIX SUPPRESSIVE TO DISEASES CAUSED BY SOILBORNE PLANT PATHOGENS. THE POTENTIAL FOR THE COMMERCIAL APPLICATION OF THIS PROCESS, BASED ON THE WIDE-SCALE ADOPTION BY HORTICULTURAL INDUSTRIES OF NATURAL COMPOST WITH LIMITED AND VARIABLE SUPPRESSIVENESS SPECTRA ARE NUMEROUS.