Upcycling By-products of the Agri-food Industry as Carbon Sources for the Application of Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation in Pennsylvania Vegetable Production Systems
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Balaguer Barbosa, Raymond
- Graduate Program:
- Agricultural and Environmental Plant Science (MS)
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- November 04, 2022
- Committee Members:
- Erin Connolly, Program Head/Chair
Francesco Di Gioia, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Claudia Schmidt, Committee Member
Francisco Dini Andreote, Committee Member
Erin Rosskopf, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Anaerobic soil disinfestation
Vegetable Production
Soil health
Lettuce
Tomatoes - Abstract:
- Vegetable production in Pennsylvania is one of the most important farming endeavors of the state. High tunnel production systems are a technology that facilitate crop protection against adverse weather, allowing for the extension of the growing season, and the achievement of higher produce yield and quality. Nevertheless, intensive soil cultivation, combined with monoculture or limited crop rotation that are common practices in high tunnel production systems, over time may lead to a higher presence of soilborne pests and pathogens that can offset the benefits of high tunnels. Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) is proposed as a pre-plant, non-synthetic chemical soil disinfestation technique to reduce the incidence of a wide range of soilborne biotic issues. ASD is applied by amending the soil with a labile carbon (C) source, mulching the soil with totally impermeable film to prevent gaseous exchanges, and then irrigating the soil until the point of saturation. A critical requirement of the ASD method is the accessibility of a locally available and relatively inexpensive source of labile C. The objectives of the current study are to: 1) identify by-products of the local agri-food industry that may be suitable as C source for ASD and characterize their physicochemical properties; 2) assess their efficacy in promoting anaerobic conditions and evaluating their impact on plant growth performance, nutrient uptake, and yield. After identifying and sourcing local agri-food by-products suitable for ASD applications and evaluating their viability as potential C sources, selected by-products of the local agri-food industry were characterized in terms of physicochemical properties, determining their total C and nitrogen content, C:N ratio, easily oxidizable C fraction, total sugar content, and mineral content. The C sources selected were examined also for their seasonal and regional availability and for their cost, making considerations on transportation and processing requirement. In a second phase, ASD applications were conducted using the C sources selected. Anaerobic conditions and nutrient dynamics in the soil were monitored, as well as crop development, nutrient uptake, and fruit yield and quality performance. The research allowed to identify the most promising alternative C sources locally available in Pennsylvania and to evaluate their efficacy as C source for the ASD process and their impact on the crop following the ASD treatment in a lettuce-tomato double cropping system.