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2Printed on paper that contains at least 20 percent postconsumer fiber. ompost technology is a valuable tool already being used to increase yields by farmers interested in sustainable agriculture. Now, professional growers are discovering that compost-enriched soil can also help suppress diseases and ward off pests. These beneficial uses of compost can help growers save money, reduce their use of pesticides, and conserve natural resources. In the poul-try industry, composting has also become a cost-effective method of mortal-ity management. It destroys disease organisms and creates a nutrient-rich product that can be used or sold. Plant Disease Control ach year, more than 10 percent of the vegetables planted in the United States are lost to root rot alone, according to researchers at the University of Florida’s Tropical Research and Education Center. Additional crop losses are caused by other soilborne plant pathogens, such as the micro-organisms that cause ashy stem blight and chili pepper wilt. Compost can help control plant disease and reduce crop losses. Disease control with compost has been attributed to four possi-ble mechanisms: (1) successful competition for nutrients by beneficial micro-organisms; (2) antibiotic production by beneficial micro-organisms; (3) successful predation against pathogens by beneficial micro-organisms; and (4) activation of disease-resistant genes in plants by composts. Scientists have enhanced the natural ability of compost to suppress diseases by enriching it with specific disease-fighting micro-organisms or other amendments. This amended or “tailored ” compost can then be applied to crops infected by known diseases. Research has shown that tai-lored compost significantly reduced or replaced the application of pesti-cides, fungicides, and nematicides—which could adversely affect water resources, food safety, and worker safety. C E the land. Every acre got a treatment once every 5 years with 15 percent increases in yield. Some of that increase is apparently due to a suppression of disease organisms.