Organic amendments: a natural way to suppress phytopathogens: a sustainable approach to go green
RAMEESHA NAGHMAN, MAHNOOR TANVEER BHATTI, ZARQA NAJABAT, Sajjad Hyder, Zarrin Fatima Rizvi, Amjad Shahzad Gondal, Zikria Zafar, SADIA MALIK, Rashid Iqbal, Aqsa Hafeez, Baber Ali, Romina Alina Marc
Abstract
Global population is increasing massively and so is the demand for food.To meet the requirements, crops are being grown and harvested by using modern technologies.Also, food crops are at risk of some abiotic and biotic factors mainly pathogens (soil or airborne).To boost the production of food crops and to reduce the damage caused by biotic factors the farmer community increases the use of chemical fertilizers, insecticides, and pesticides.However, these are effective to overcome the problems but also make the pathogens resistant, affecting food quality and polluting the environment.To minimize the pathogenic attack and enhance the crop yield there is a need of adapting an ecofriendly way.Soil organic amendments are the best preventive practice for the suppression of soil-borne pathogens.Improving the soil's physical, chemical, and microbial characteristics.Some organic amendments enhance the soil particles, increase pore size, and decrease soil bulk density which influences a positive effect on soil aeration and structure.Different types of organic amendments such as biochar, animal manure, green manure, and compost are reported to be effective against diseases caused by different pathogens and enhance plant nutrient uptake ability, and improve soil health.This current review focuses on the use of different soil organic amendments and their capability for suppressing plant disease caused by soil-borne pathogens in a natural and eco-friendly manner.