Testing peas for legume fatigue
Problem: Among legume crops, forage peas show the most symptoms of legume fatigue. This is due to infestation with Mycosphaerella-, Phoma-, Fusarium-, Aphanomyces- and other soil-borne pathogens as a result of over-cultivation of peas or other legumes such as lupins, field beans, vetches, red clover, or lucerne. A heavy infestation may lead to a total loss of the peas.
Solution: With the help of a simple method, the soil can be examined for legume-fatigue symptoms prior to cultivation with field peas.
Outcome: The method offers reference points regarding the soil's contamination with these pathogens, and thus indication for a possibly required cultivation break. Refraining from cultivating on contaminated soils helps avoid the situation of a high yield loss due to legume fatigue.
Practical recommendation: 1. Extract 10 litres of humid soil from the field plot you wish to examine and sieve it down to a grain size of 10 mm. 2. Moisten dry samples and mix them up evenly. 3. Fill four aluminium trays with the humid soil and store the remaining soil. 4. Cover the trays filled with soil with tinfoil and place them in the baking oven. Sterilise the samples for at least 12 hours at 70-100 °C in the oven. 5. Let the aluminium trays cool for 12 hours after sterilisation. 6. Mark four flowerpots with "R" (for untreated reference) and another four with "H" (for heat-treated soil). 7. Fill the four H-flowerpots with the heat-treated soil and fill the four R-flowerpots with the untreated soil. Link: http://orgprints.org/31023/19/PA_008_Legume-fatique_final_QR.pdf
OK-Net Arable – Organic Knowledge Network Arable
Ongoing | 2015-2018
- Main funding source
- Horizon 2020 (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
- Geographical location
- Belgium