Deliverable Strategy1 No D3.1 - D4.1. First Report on Activities in Spain

Summary

The main role of the Spanish group within BIO-INCROP is to investigate novel approaches to the fight against soil-borne pathogens causing growth diseases in organic citrus production. These new strategies range from the use of biologically-active commercial products to management options to improve soil biological activity and diversity, together with techniques for soil disinfection suited for organic cropping.
Several assays are currently under way to evaluate in detail such strategies. Most of the work is being performed in a field trial set in an old farm sited at Gandía (Valencia),
wherein citrus have been cultivated for more than a century. Many Phytophtora attacks have been recorded in the last decades, and intensive farming has also led to a very compacted soil. An agreement was signed with its proprietors to replant an 1.2 ha orchard to set up there two different trials whose objectives and design is discussed in the context of the project’s work packages the Spanish group is involved in. Complementary pot experiments
are also on course at the IVIA experimental farm at Moncada (Valencia).