Finding natural alternatives to methyl bromide in greenhouse cantaloupe for yield, quality and disease control

Abstract

To find natural alternatives to methyl bromide for reducing its environmental damage, a greenhouse study was conducted in grown cantaloupe plants (Cucumis melo L) cv Primal F1 Hybrid. Nine treatments were evaluated to find a better natural methyl bromide (MBr) alternative which are, Bio-fumigants (with Fresh cow manure), Bio-fumigants (with Fresh chicken manure), Brassicaceae residuals treatment, Cultivation in local materials using rice straw bales, adding disease Suppressive Compost (Bio-Compost), using hot water for killing soil pathogens, Biological control by using of Trichoderma harzianum and Bacillus subtilis in comparison with chemical control with one of MBr chemical alternatives (Basamid) and Control (farmer treatment). Best results in seedlings survival rate and wilt disease incidence (%) was recorded with the use of Basamid but it was also noted that good results were obtained by Brassicaceae residuals treatment, followed by bio-fumigation with Fresh cow manure, in comparison to the control treatment (Farmer treatment). Bio fumigation with fresh cow or chicken manure followed by Brassicaceae residuals and lastly Bio Compost resulted in a significant increase in soil temperature during the fermentation period. On the other hand, hot water treatment had increased soil temperature markedly and rapidly but it had been lost quickly. Regarding yield characteristics, chemical control treatment (Basamid) resulted in the highest yield parameters followed by biological control treatment, Bio compost, hot water injection, and fresh cow manure with no significant difference among them. While fresh chicken manure and Brassicaceae residuals had a slight significant improvement in yield parameters than farmer treatment. On the other hand, it was noticed that cultivation in rice straw was not very successful in giving the desired plant yield and had the lowest values in all yield and quality components which may be due the large canopy size of cantaloupe plants.