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The
following article was published in Colorado's
San Luis Valley Courier
and the Center Post-Dispatch newspapers
LOCAL HOPES TO MASH POTATO DISEASE
By Mary McLean
A fungal
infestation called "powdery scab" has infected some potato fields for
the past two years here in the San Luis Valley and, so far, the disease
has not responded to commercial chemical treatments. A possible solution to the problem
has been offered by a Colorado resident, J .A. Jordan, with a patented, naturally occurring, non-pathogenic process known as
AgriCultures.
According to Dr. Richard Zink, of the
Colorado State University, Cooperative Extension, San Luis Valley Research
Center, the powdery scab, or Spongospora subterranea, is a soil
borne fungus. It is found in essentially every potato production area
in the world and causes the formation of superficial pustules that release
spores into the soil. An infected soil can harbor the spores in their
resting stage for three to ten years. Recent years of wet weather conditions
in August have encouraged growth of the powdery scab pathogen.
Although the russet potato seems to be
resistant to the fungus, the "yellows" and "reds" are vulnerable. Since
conventional chemical treatments have not effected control or elimination
of the disease, Dr. Zink felt it was worth consideration when Jordan,
the President of ACI Bioremediation (formerly AgriCultures
International) and his associate and "inventor" of the cultures, Franklin Slavensky
of Sacramento, approached him with a proposal last November.
"They came in to see me with their product
and wondered if it could be beneficial to the potato industry. [The
powdery scab] is one of many diseases and I felt there was a possibility
that the cultures could be beneficial in controlling it," said Dr. Zink,
who is the Extension's potato specialist. Since Jordan had greenhouse
facilities, Dr. Zink agreed to an experiment to investigate the cultures'
effects in that controlled environment during the winter months. "You
have to hit the right time of the plant's growth cycle," he said.
Over the next three months, both Jordan
and Colorado State University personnel are conducting a strictly controlled
analysis and evaluation of the experiment.
On February 17th, Research Associate
Coleen Golden inoculated eight 20-gallon containers filled with sterile
soils with healthy seed potatoes and the spores of the powdery scab
fungus. All eight containers received about one quarter cup of the powdery
scab inoculant that was well mixed into the upper portion of the soils,
followed by a healthy seed potato that was buried four to six inches
deep. One week later, an additional one-quarter cup of the powdery scab
inoculant was added to each container. Only six of the containers are
being treated with the AgriCultures.
For purposes of determining individual
results, six different strains were used in each of the six containers.
During the past nine years of research and implementation, twenty-five
strains originally derived from the "mother" culture have been evolved
and adapted for different applications.
Since the powdery scab flourishes in
wet conditions, and to maximize the pathogen's favorable growth, the
soils will be kept in a wetter than normal condition when the potatoes
reach a certain level of maturity - a level to be determined by Dr.
Zink and his staff.
Although Dr. Zink is reasonably cautious
in his expectations, he admits that, "If the experiment is successful,
it will be worth the time and investment to investigate under actual
field growing conditions."
Jordan is confident that the cultures
will be effective. "In over nine years of working and experimenting
with the cultures, I have seen them demonstrate their abilities time
and again."
According to Jordan, although the AgriCultures
have been used primarily for agriculture, they have been effective in
many other applications. He stated that, "Besides their use in remediating
contaminated soils, farm crops, orchards, vineyards, gardening, composting,
and dairy farms, they have been very successful in sewage lagoons, septic
tanks, mining, industrial wastes, fish farming, even in restaurant grease
traps." The nitrogen-fixing microbes, he added, also eliminate hydrocarbons
(BTEX) and nitrates, remediate chemicals, including herbicides, fungicides,
and insecticides from soils and ground water, combat plant diseases
and blight, and insect infestations such as non-parasitic nematodes.
"As a soils amender," he added, "the cultures liberate nutrients and
minerals that are essential to plant life."
In 1991, the cultures were tested and
registered by the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), a Budapest
Treaty Organization that gathers, identifies and categorizes microbes
on a worldwide basis. According to Jordan, this mixotroph of cultures
is highly unique. "Although there are many bio-remediating cultures
on the market today, the AgriCultures have been
found to be adaptable to any remedial situation encountered so far,"
he explained. In June 1999, the cultures were applied to alfalfa and
wheat fields on a farm north of Moffat that is managed by Allen Palmer.
According to Slavensky, the crop was doing poorly due to a nitrogen
deficiency. "Although there may be other variables," said Palmer, "we
had a real good crop on the first cutting. We're going to use them [the
cultures] again this year."
See
New Developments for
results of this experiment.
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