The Department of Nematology's weekly NEMA 250 seminar series is presented this week by:

Caroline Eberlein, UC Riverside, Department of Nematology, Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Parlier, CA

Seminar Title: “Utility of anaerobic digestates and biochar for nematode suppression"

Seminar Summary: Anaerobic digestates are byproducts of the anaerobic digestion of organic substrates in biogas production. Frequently organic wastes, e.g., food waste or animal manure, are used for this process to reduce their load for landfills and environmental impact. Biochar is a product of incinerating solid organic wastes to reduce the volume of material to be disposed of. Using either one of these types of materials as soil amendments could be part of a circular economy. Here, it was tested if the materials, in addition to fertilizer effects, also provide nematode suppression. Hypothetically, substrate type and processing conditions impact the composition of digestates. Several bioassays and microplot experiments were used to characterize the nematode-suppressive potential of different digestates. Although variable, thermophilic processing conditions and food waste as substrate led to high levels of suppression of multiple plant-parasitic nematode species.

Faculty Host: Dr. J. Ole Becker; obecker@ucr.edu