title: Compost: its role, mechanism and impact on reducing soil-borne plant diseases.
abstract: Soil-borne plant pathogens are responsible for causing many crop plant diseases, resulting in significant economic losses. Compost application to agricultural fields is an excellent natural approach, which can be taken to fight against plant pathogens. The application of organic waste products is also an environmentally friendly alternative to chemical use, which unfortunately is the most common approach in agriculture today. This review analyses pioneering and recent compost research, and also the mechanisms and mode of action of compost microbial communities for reducing the activity of plant pathogens in agricultural crops. In addition, an approach for improving the quality of composts through the microbial communities already present in the compost is presented. Future agricultural practices will almost definitely require integrated research strategies to help combat plant diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, College of Basic Science and Humanities, G. B. P. U. A. & T. Pantnagar, U.S. Nagar, Uttarakhand, India; Department of Botany, D.S.B. Campus, Kumaun University Nainital, Uttarakhand, India.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.affiliation: Department of Botany, D.S.B. Campus, Kumaun University Nainital, Uttarakhand, India.
authors.forename: Uma
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Palni
authors.affiliation: Leopold-Franzens University, Institute of Microbiology, Technikerstraße 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: I H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Franke-Whittle
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, College of Basic Science and Humanities, G. B. P. U. A. & T. Pantnagar, U.S. Nagar, Uttarakhand, India. Electronic address: anilksharma_99@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000821:virology; D012037:Refuse Disposal; D012987:Soil / Q000469:parasitology*; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D012987:Soil
keywords: Compost microbes; DGGE; Disease suppression; Plant diseases