Suppression of pathogens causing foot rot of pea by application of yard waste compost

Summary

Legume foot and root diseases are mostly caused by broad host-range pathogens. These cannot be managed by rotations alone as often cover crops also are susceptible. Organic amendments such as high quality composts are key management tools for dealing with pathogen pressure. A pot experiment under controlled conditions was carried out to evaluate the suppressive potential of Yard Waste Compost (YWC) against foot rot disease of pea caused by Mycosphaerella pinodes, Phoma medicaginis, Fusarium solani f. sp pisi and F. avenaceum. The spring pea Santana and winter pea EFB33 were grown in sterile sand or sand amended with 3.5 % or 20 % (v/v) YWC as a substrate for three weeks. They were either inoculated at sowing with spore suspensions or left uninoculated. Regardless of variety and pathogen, all application rates of compost significantly reduced the severity of foot rot.