I ozone depleter scheduled for a 100 percent use reduction in the U.S. by 2005. This project addresses orchard replacement strategies for almonds, nectarines, peaches, plums, and prunes.
Replant disorder delays economic production and can lead to tree death.
This project will determine the underlying causes of replant disorder, the level of specificity of replant disorder between two types of crops that may follow each other on large acreage, and the possible contributions of pre-plant fallow periods and cover crops to replant disorder control. An improved understanding of replant disorder etiology may be one of the most important keys to development of methyl bromide alternatives. The research objective of this project is to find microorganisms to improve root health, growth, and yield of strawberry plants without soil fumigation, which can be integrated with other cultural, biological and chemical treatments. The project will use microorganisms recently isolated from strawberry roots growing in fumigated soils in California which have been found to promote growth of strawberry plants in the greenhouse. These microorganisms will be used to inoculate transplants and plants grown for field production.