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Agro-ecological Approaches to Pest Management for Sustainable Agriculture pp 43–59Cite as

Biofumigation

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Abstract

In order to reduce the need for chemical fumigation, especially in tight rotations, the use of certain crops as biological fumigants ahead of crop production to manage soil-borne pests is receiving considerable interest in recent times. The crops that have shown the potential to serve as biological fumigants include plants in the mustard family (such as mustards, radishes, turnips, and rapeseed) and sorghum species (Sudan grass, sorghum-Sudan grass hybrids). The crops from the mustard family show some promise to reduce soil-borne pests by releasing naturally occurring compounds called glucosinolates in plant tissues (roots and foliage). When chopped plant tissues are incorporated in the soil, they are further broken down by enzymes (myrosinase) to form chemicals (glucosinolates) that behave like fumigants. Isothiocyanates are the breakdown products of glucosinolates, which are the same chemicals that are released from metam sodium (Vapam) and metam potassium (K-Pam), commonly used as chemical fumigants. A cyanogenic glucoside compound called “dhurrin” breaks down to release toxic cyanide when sorghum plant tissue is damaged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

    P. Parvatha Reddy (Former Director)

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  1. P. Parvatha Reddy
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Reddy, P.P. (2017). Biofumigation. In: Agro-ecological Approaches to Pest Management for Sustainable Agriculture. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4325-3_4

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