What Kind of Impact Does Fumigation Have on Overall Soil Health?

Fumigants have long been a vital crop protection tool for specialty crop growers to help prepare fields for planting and manage soil health. This is especially the case for Florida strawberry and tomato growers. While fumigants are used in large part to reduce diseases such as Fusarium wilt, pests like root-knot nematodes, weeds, and more, researchers want to take a deeper dive.

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University of Florida soil microbiologist Sarah Strauss has received an $850,000 grant from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture grant to study how fumigation impacts the soil microbiome. Findings can aid farmers in managing soil health more efficiently.

“We know that fumigants are pretty good at reducing the ‘bad’ soil microbes – the ones that cause diseases,” says Strauss. “We don’t really know what happens to all the other microbes in the soil when these fumigants are applied. But since the fumigants hurt the pathogens – the ‘bad microbes’ — they might hurt the other microbes. These other microbes include ones that could be helpful for plants.”

Strauss will be collaborating on the project with fellow UF/IFAS colleagues Nathan Boyd, Gary Vallad, and Mary Lusk. Work will be conducted at the Gulf Coast Research and Education Center in Balm and at local commercial tomato and strawberry farms.

“We want to try and figure out if the ‘good’ soil microbes are still around after fumigation and are helping this process — or not,” Strauss adds. “We need to better understand what’s happening in the soil before we can try and optimize or improve these fumigation practices.”

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