Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a fungus causing disease on many economically important crops such as cabbage, beat, lettuce, carrot, beans and many more. In Sri Lanka the pathogen was found in upcountry cabbage growing regions and fungicide insensitive isolates were also found. Since this is a soil-borne pathogen that can survive in soil for more than 8 years, disease management is challenging. Therefore, Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation (ASD) was proposed as one of the alternative means of soil borne disease management. ASD involves an incorporation of an easily decomposable carbon source, watering to the field capacity and maintaining an anaerobic condition for a certain period of time and it is a well-established method in the Netherlands, Japan and the USA. However, our study was the first attempt in Sri Lanka. We found very promising results with significant reduction in pathogen survival when various easily liable carbon sources such as leek and cabbage cull piles were incorporated in to the soil.

T. Mahalingam, C. S. K. Rajapakse, K. P. Somachandra & R. N. Attanayake

Tropical Plant Pathology

Abstract :- https://doi.org/10.1007/s40858-019-00315-x