Introduction to Soil Disinfection

Importance of Soil Disinfection

Soil disinfection is an essential and multifaceted practice in agricultural management, especially within intensive production systems, where controlling soil pathogens is crucial to ensuring the health and productivity of horticultural crops. These crops, due to their susceptibility to a wide range of soil-borne diseases, rely heavily on effective disinfection strategies to maintain their long-term viability.

 

Traditional Methods of Soil Disinfection

Chemical Disinfection

  • Widespread Use of Chemical Products: Chemicals such as fumigants have been extensively utilized for their ability to eliminate a broad range of pathogens and their proven effectiveness.
  • Negative Impacts: Excessive reliance on these products has led to their prohibition in many cases due to the adverse effects they have on the environment, human health, and soil biodiversity.

Consequences of Continued Use

  • Accumulation of Toxic Residues: Repeated use of chemical disinfectants has resulted in the accumulation of toxic residues in the soil, affecting not only the target pathogens but also beneficial soil organisms.
  • Bans and Restrictions: As a consequence of these concerns, government regulations have imposed restrictions and bans on the use of certain chemical disinfectants, compelling farmers to seek more sustainable alternatives.

 

Challenges and Adaptations in Soil Disinfection

Adaptation of Management Strategies

  • Challenges for Farmers: These prohibitions and restrictions pose a significant challenge for farmers, who must adapt to new regulations and develop innovative management strategies.
  • Opportunities for Innovation: The need for adaptation has also spurred a wave of research and development in the field of soil disinfection, aiming to find solutions that are both effective and environmentally sustainable.

 

Sustainable Alternatives

  1. Solarization

    • Method and Efficacy: Solarization involves covering the soil with transparent plastic sheets during the warmer periods of the year, harnessing solar radiation to raise the soil temperature to levels lethal for many pathogens.
    • Combined Application: This method can be applied alone or in combination with other pathogen control methods to enhance its effectiveness.

  2. Biofumigants

    • Definition and Use: Biofumigants are natural substances derived from plants that can release volatile compounds toxic to soil pathogens.
    • Advantages: These compounds, besides being effective against pathogens, have the advantage of quickly decomposing without leaving harmful residues.

  3. Micronutrient Preventatives

    Use of Products like SPIRALIS Eco Long Life or CULTISANO.

    • Definition and Function: Spiral is an example of a preventative micronutrient product designed to strengthen plants and improve their resistance to pathogens.
    • Additional Benefits: These products not only help prevent soil diseases but also improve overall plant health, increasing their ability to absorb nutrients and resist environmental stress.
    • Integration into Management Strategies: Incorporating preventatives like Spiral into agricultural management can complement other disinfection methods and contribute to a more comprehensive and effective pathogen control strategy.

  4. Biological Control

    • Beneficial Microorganisms: Biological control using beneficial microorganisms, such as bacteria and antagonistic fungi, offers a promising solution. Example: MICROVITAL -L.
    • Mechanism of Action: These microorganisms can inhibit or displace soil pathogens, promoting a healthy microbial balance and improving soil resilience against diseases.

  5. Organic Amendments

    • Types of Amendments: Incorporating organic amendments improves soil structure.
    • Benefits: They increase the soil’s ability to suppress pathogens by activating the soil microbiota.

  6. Crop Rotation

    • Strategy and Benefits: Crop rotation involves alternating different types of crops in the same plot to disrupt the life cycles of pathogens specific to certain crops.
    • Soil Health Improvements: This practice not only helps reduce the incidence of soil diseases but also improves soil fertility and overall soil health.

Importance of Innovation

  • Future Challenges: Soil disinfection is an essential practice in intensive agriculture, especially in horticultural crops.
  • Sustainable Solutions: The prohibition and restriction of certain chemical disinfectants have forced farmers to seek and adopt new, more sustainable strategies for soil pathogen control.

Objetivo Desarrollo Sostenible 2 - Hambre cero

ACTION TOGETHER

OXIFORT and CULTISOL are proposed as a clean and healthy soil disinfection solution, free of residues, environmentally friendly, and non-toxic or corrosive.

The synergy between both products contributes to increasing their disinfectant action by enhancing the power of both through the formation of organic peroxyacids, with greater oxidizing and disinfecting power, ensuring the elimination of soil pathogens without resorting to fumigants, pollutants, corrosives, and highly costly options.

APPLICATION

Both products can be applied together with solarization, applying OXIFORT first and then CULTISOL, finishing with a brief irrigation to ensure the infiltration of the products into the topsoil layer so that they can fulfill their disinfecting function.

Based on the results obtained in the soil analyses conducted with the Labcolor laboratory of COEXPHAL, both before and after solarization, we can affirm that the joint treatment strategy of OXIFORT + CULTISOL has been effective for the control of Fusarium oxysporum and Fusarium solani.

Therefore, for greater effectiveness of the treatment and due to the high permanence and survival of Fusarium and Pythium in the soil, greenhouse structures, tools, and machinery, the following preventive measures are recommended:

  • Remove or destroy crop residues.
  • Choose resistant crops or varieties.
  • Use clean and disinfected propagation/planting tools and materials.
  • Use clean substrates.
  • Prevent plant stress.
  • Control greenhouse temperature.
  • Avoid overwatering and ensure soil drainage is adequate.
  • Control nitrogen applications (preferably nitric over ammoniacal).
  • Improve the healing of pruning and/or harvest wounds.
  • Prevent diseases in plants, optimizing their potential and crop resilience.