Root galling caused by root-knot nematode infestation.
Maite Gandariasbeitia et alFor decades, chemical pesticides have been a go-to method of protecting crops for industrial agriculture, but the practice can often come at the cost of environmental and other damages.
The resulting demand for more organic and sustainable pest control alternatives has fueled quite a bit of research, including a new study out of Spain that finds promise in a combination of used materials from beer and food production and cow manure.
“Rapeseed cake (the remainder from vegetable oil extraction) and beer bagasse (spent grains) are two potential organic treatments which have shown really positive results in previous studies,” explains lead author Maite Gandariasbeitia from the Neiker Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development.
“Their high nitrogen content promotes the activity of beneficial microorganisms in the soil, which helps to break down organic matter like manure and kill off nematodes and other parasites which damage crops.”
Nematodes are a common parasite that invade roots through the soil, where they lay eggs, damaging the roots and slowing the plant’s growth and crop yields.
After adding the beer and rapeseed waste into soil along with fresh cow manure, the researchers saw a major improvement in root health from just a single treatment.
The experiment stretched out over a year, and treated plots of plants showed about 15 percent higher yields compared to control plots over the time period. The researchers say the new organic treatment also increased the amount of healthy microorganisms in the soil.
MORE FOR YOU
“There are still many questions to answer so that we can gain a better understanding of what happens in the soil during and after these biodisinfestation treatments,” says Gandariasbeitia.
The hope is that similar methods could be found to tackle other soil parasites.
The study is published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.
May 31, 2021 at 11:30PM
https://ift.tt/3vCk1As
How Beer And Poop Factor Into The Future Of Food - Forbes
https://ift.tt/2NyjRFM
Beer
No comments:
Post a Comment