Cover crops, tillage, and the suppression of soil borne diseases in soybean

Cover crops have historically been shown to be useful in the management of pathogens of high value crops, such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts. However, the properties of these cover crops and the type of suppressive soil that they induce, can be useful in the production of agronomic crops as well. Disease suppressive soils either do not allow the pathogen to become established, or they reduce the level of disease resulting from the presence of the pathogen, in comparison to the level that would occur in a conducive soil. In this study, five cover crop treatments (cereal rye, vetch, mustard, rye+vetch, and fallow) were evaluated at the University of Illinois South Farms in both 2014 and 2015 for decreasing the incidence and severity of soybean diseases, changing soil microbial community structures, and increasing soybean yield. Two tillage treatments (chisel plow and ridge till) were also evaluated to determine whether these treatments had any effect on the microbial populations. Data of root disease severity and soybean yield were taken over the two seasons to determine the effectiveness of the different treatments. Bulk and rhizospheric soil samples were taken to compare the microbial community structures of the different treatments in relation to disease development. Poor establishment of cover crops in the field plots led to the use of greenhouse bioassays to evaluate the effects of the cover crop treatments.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Crop Sciences

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2017

Author dc:creator

• Pfaffe, Haley Catherine

Contributors dc:contributor

• Eastburn, Darin M.
• Davis, Adam
• Domier, Leslie

• Cover crops
• Soybean
• Diseases

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2016 Haley Pfaffe

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/95254

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/95254