HARNESSING THE POWER OF SUPPRESSIVE SOILS TO MANAGE ROOT-KNOT NEMATODES IN ORGANIC VEGETABLE PRODUCTION

The long-term goal of the project is to manage root-knot nematodes (RKN) by optimizing soil management in transitioning and organic vegetable farming. This project will conduct both research and extension activities to discover suppressive soils against RKN and explore suppressive soils as a resource for growers to manage RKN in organic vegetable production. Specific objectives include: 1. Exploring suppressive soils against RKN at organic vegetable farms and assessing the impacts of soil management practices on suppression; 2. Investigating microbial communities of suppressive soils to identify groups of microbes associated with RKN-suppressiveness; 3. Creating RKN-suppressive soils by scaling up the identified suppressive soils and through de novo methods; 4. Developing a new method for managing RKN in organic vegetable production by transplanting with suppressive soils; and 5. Creating a knowledge-generating and sharing platform among organic vegetable growers and the scientific community.