UC studies biological control for strawberry diseases Could crops such as onions, leeks or wheat helpprotect strawberries fromsoil- borne diseases? AUniversity of California specialist wants to find out. andcharcoal rot,which threatenstrawber- ry crops throughout California.
Already, researchers have learned that a technique called anaerobic soil disin- festation, or ASD, can control Verticillium wilt. According to UC, ASD employs car- bonsources suchas ricebranunderplastic mulch inmoist soils for three to fiveweeks during the autumn. About 2,000 acres of berry fields were treated with ASD in California andMexico last year. But the technique isn’t as effective against two other diseases, Fusariumwilt
wilt, and Summit 515 wheat for charcoal rot,”Muramoto said. “Our goal is to exam- ine the effectiveness of suppressive crops, optimize them for California strawberry production systems and evaluate their economic feasibility for commercial use.” According to UC, Muramoto’s team will conduct a series of greenhouse and field trials and test the crops with and without ASD, to compare the effects on soilborne pathogens. “Nosingle tactic is likely toreplace fumi- gants,”he said. “Integrationofmultiplebi- ological approaches suchas crop rotation, ASDanduseof resistant strawberryvariet- ies is a key todevelop a successful non-fu- migant-based soilborne diseasemanage- ment strategy for strawberries. Thisproject is a part of such broader efforts.” UCsaidthenewstudywilltakethreeyears, afterwhichMuramotoplanstoshareresults viaworkshops, fielddaysandwebinars. Herbicide aims at weeds in orchards Describing it as a good fit for post- harvest weed control in nut orchards, the manufacturer Corteva Agriscience announced it has received approval for Embed Extra herbicide. Corteva Agriscience said last week the California Department of Pesticide Regulation had approved the herbicide for use in almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans and certain tree fruit. The compa- ny said the product label lists 102 annual, biennial and perennial weeds controlled byEmbedExtra, includingmarestail, bind- weed, malva, fillaree and field bindweed. Apostemergent herbicide, EmbedExtra contains a formulationof the active ingre- dient 2,4-D, themanufacturer said. Jeff Pacheco, Corteva market develop- ment specialist, said all 2,4-D herbicides used in California agriculture employ an amine formulation. PachecosaidEmbedExtracontains 2,4- D choline, which he described as “a com- pletely new form of 2,4-Dwith near-zero volatility” andas amuchmore stable form of the herbicide. “Certain postemergent herbicides have very fast activity on weeds,” he said. “But that canbeaproblemif theherbicidedoes not translocate to the roots and only the tops of weeds are killed. Roots stay intact, regrowth occurs and the grower is back to spraying again.” Pacheco said Embed Extra translocates at a slower pace throughweeds. Themanufacturer saidEmbedExtracan be tank mixed with other postemergent herbicides, such as glyphosate and glu- fosinate, and that it canalsobe tankmixed withmore residual-type herbicides, such as Pindar GT andMatrix SG. Pacheco said the new product appears suitedtocontrolemergedweedspriortoau- tumnrainsandapplicationofpre-emergent herbicides, andwould also succeedwhen residualherbicidesareappliedtoweedyor- chards in the late fall andearlywinter.
Based on what he described as prom- ising studies in Asia and elsewhere, Muramoto plans to test alliums such as onions, bunch onions and leeks, plus a specific wheat variety, Summit 515, to see if they will suppress Fusarium wilt and charcoal rot in strawberries. “Studies have shown the potential of using allium crops to control Fusarium
Joji Muramoto, a UC Cooperative Extension organic production special- ist based at UC Santa Cruz, has earned a $411,395 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study biological alterna- tives to replace soil fumigation inmanag- ing soilborne strawberry diseases.
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16 Ag Alert October 7, 2020
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