Temperature and Crop Yields
An example of the importance of controlling the soil microflora and how certain cultural and management practices can facilitate such control is useful here. Vegetable cultivars are often selected on their ability to grow and produce over a wide range of temperatures.
Under cool, temperate conditions there are generally few pest and disease problems. However, with the onset of hot weather, there is a concomitant increase in the incidence of diseases and insects making it rather difficult to obtain acceptable yields without applying pesticides. With higher temperatures, the total soil microbial population increases as do certain plant pathogens such as Fusarium, which is one of the main putrefactive, fungal pathogens in soil.
The incidence and destructive activity of this pathogen can be greatly minimized by adopting reduced tillage methods and by shading techniques to keep the soil cool during hot weather. Another approach is to inoculate the soil with beneficial, antagonistic, antibiotic-producing microorganisms such as actinomycetes and certain fungi.
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Our products improve soil health by stimulating and feeding native microbial life in the soil which creates a higher yielding crop. To learn more about how you can increase photosynthetic efficiencies, contact us today!