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Production and Utilization of Suppressive Compost: Environmental, Food and Health Benefits

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Microbes at Work

Abstract

Since many centuries, compost has been utilized in agriculture to replace organic matter and nutrients for different crops. Only in recent decades, particular composts, produced with selected starting material and with controlled processes, have been applied to suppress phytopathogenic agents. Such composts can be used to control soil-borne or air-borne pathogens. This has been tested, to control diseases, both in the field and laboratory on many different crops and conditions: greenhouse, horticulture, floriculture, apple, grapes, container systems, pot culture, turf grass, plant nursery, etc. The mechanisms of disease suppression are still not fully understood and include a complex interplay of abiotic (pH, temperature, C/N, organic matter quality, etc.) and biotic (predators, antagonists, competition for nutrients, antibiosis, production of lytic enzymes, microbial metabolites like siderophores, etc.) factors. In this chapter, compost characteristics related to disease suppression, the use of suppressive compost and economical benefits are discussed, in particular the possible reduction of pesticide use.

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  1. Department of Industrial Microbiology, University of Udine, Udine, Italy

    Marco de Bertoldi

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  1. Marco de Bertoldi
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Correspondence to Marco de Bertoldi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Inst. Mikrobiologie, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, Innsbruck, 6020, Austria

    Heribert Insam

  2. Inst. Mikrobiologie, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, Innsbruck, 6020, Austria

    Ingrid Franke-Whittle

  3. Inst. Mikrobiologie, Universität Innsbruck, Technikerstr. 25, Innsbruck, 6020, Austria

    Marta Goberna

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de Bertoldi, M. (2010). Production and Utilization of Suppressive Compost: Environmental, Food and Health Benefits. In: Insam, H., Franke-Whittle, I., Goberna, M. (eds) Microbes at Work. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04043-6_8

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