Soilless Substrates As A Critical Point For Pest And Pathogen Control In Hydroponic Leafy Green Production Systems

Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) represents a transformative paradigm in agricultural practices, often harnessing advanced technologies and scientific principles to cultivate crops within controlled indoor facilities. This approach encompasses various system types, including soilless production systems (e.g., hydroponics), designed to optimize plant growth conditions and resource utilization. In contrast to traditional open-field production, CEA operations combine production, harvesting, and packaging within one indoor facility. While combining activities within a single operational system offers many benefits, it also presents unique plant disease and food safety management challenges not manifested in field harvested cropping systems. A key component within CEA systems are soilless substrates which serve to physically support the plant, and as a medium to deliver oxygen, nutrients, and water to plant roots via recirculating nutrient solution. Because of their use at the very beginning of the production process, soilless substrates are identified by stakeholders as a critical point for potential pest and pathogen introduction. To align with the pesticide-free goals of most CEA operations, there is a need to validate, non-chemical bio-based strategies for mitigating plant disease and food safety issues. The objectives to attain our goal are to:Establish the impact of soilless substrates on pest and pathogen risk in hydroponic leaf lettuce production.Determine efficacy of biopesticide amendment of soilless substrates to control pest and pathogen risk in hydroponic leaf lettuce production.Create outreach and training materials on best practices related to soilless substrates and biopesticide use.