Effect of Soil Mulching and Crop Residues on Enhancement of Cucumber Resistance to Some Soil Borne Diseases

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Plant Pathol. Unit, Plant Protection Dept., Desert Res. Centre

Abstract

The application of crop residues as soil amendments followed by soil plastic mulching is considered an environmentally friendly approach for the control of soil borne plant pathogens. The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach in Egypt. To this aim, a plastic greenhouse experiment was carried out to compare the effects of plastic mulching, alone/or in combination with five different crop residues on root-rot and wilt of cucumber caused by Pythium ultimum and Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. radices-cucumerinum, respectively. Crop residues, i.e. alfalfa, mustard, canola, cabbage, cauliflower and radish were incorporated into natural infested soil and covered with plastic film for 60 days. After this time, cucumber plants were planted and inoculum survival evaluated. During crop development, disease incidence and severity were assessed; the application of crop residues followed by plastic mulching did manage to negatively affect Pythium sp. and Fusarium spp. inoculum survival. Nonetheless root-rot and wilt disease incidence were significantly reduced by 80-90% of cabbage, radish and cauliflower residues followed by plastic mulching. The application of crop residues increased plant growth and yield compared to untreated controls. These results suggest that, crucifer (Brassica sp.) residues followed by plastic mulching reduced the incidence and severity of cucumber rootrot and wilt diseases under plastic greenhouse conditions

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