Biofumigation - an alternative method to control late blight in organic potato production?

Summary

To control late blight in organic potato production currently copper fungicides are used. Due to problematic aspects of copper fungicides, it's necessary to develop alternative methods to control Phytophthora infestans. In this context also the use of cover crops and particularly the method biofumigation are discussed. Because there's barely literature about the effectiveness of biofumgiation in organic potato production, the method is evaluated with laboratory experiments and field trials. Brassicacea have the potential to inhibit in vitro the growth of P. infestans, but in an one year field experiment it wasn't possible to observe positive effects to late blight infestation and tuber yields.