Influence of soil amendments and tillage methods against sunflower charcoal rot disease under reclaimed soil

Abstract EN

Field experiments were carried out at El-Nubaria Province, the desert backyard of El-Behaira Governorate, Egypt, during two successive summer seasons (2016 and 2017), to study the effect of the integration between different tillage methods and soil amendment treatments on damping-off and charcoal rot diseases management of sunflower caused by Macrophomina phaseolina under the reclaimed soil conditions.

Conventional tillage (CT) was found to be more effective in reducing M.

phaseolina population and charcoal rot.

Rice straw + EM1 + Urea × EM-X or biochar + compost × EM-X were found to be more effective in reducing damping-off and charcoal rot disease incidence and severity as well as M.

phaseolina population.

Therefore, enhanced sunflower productivity compared to the other examined soil amendment treatments; including the conventional chemical fertilization as the control treatment.

The integration between CT method and rice straw + EM1+ Urea × EM-X or biochar + compost × EM-X was found to be more effective in reducing M.

phaseolina population and charcoal rot incidence and severity.

The integration between tillage methods and soil amendments was found to be the furthermost advised agricultural practices under these conditions as land degradation neutrality (LDN) technology that enhances land cover and area unit productivity under these conditions