Fumigation and solarization practice in plasticulture systems

Abstract

Soil disinfestation strategies for intensive vegetable crop production, which have relied heavily on chemical fumigants for the past 40 years, are now undergoing rapid change. The principal driving force of change has been governmental regulatory action to phase out chemicals with properties deemed to be hazardous to the environment and/or public health. Softer methods of soil disinfestation, which rely more on physical, cultural, biological, or integrated modes of action, likely will predominate in future vegetable cropping systems. In conducive (i.e., warm) climates, solarization can be adopted economically in plasticulture systems. Solarization can be combined with other chemical, physical, and biological methods for enhanced management of soil and root pests and diseases.