FIELD EVALUATION OF NON-FUMIGANT PEST CONTROL FOR FLORIDA STRAWBERRY PRODUCTION

A field experiment was designed to test the adaptability of anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) (Goud et al. 2004) to Florida strawberry production, and to compare it to a novel, non-fumigant chemical treatment previously tested in raised-bed vegetable production. The ASD approach developed for Florida has been successfully implemented by organic and transitional vegetable producers. This technique, which utilizes amendments to facilitate the development of anaerobic soil conditions combined with soil solarization, has provided excellent soilborne pest control in previous trials (Butler et al. 2009; Rosskopf et al., 2010). A newly developed material, referred to as “SPK”, also has been tested for the production of vegetable crops and has proven efficacious against nematodes and plant pathogenic fungi, bacteria, and oomycetes. Data from laboratory, greenhouse and microplot trials looking at various rates of this material have been positive (Iriarte et al. 2007). The first season strawberry field trial was established in October 2010 and included five treatments: an untreated check, two rates of SPK, InLine ® (as