Soil solarization with biodegradabile materials and its impact on soil microbial communities.

Soil solarization (SS) seems one of the most promising techniques to control soilborne pathogens, but an important limitation to the diffusion of this technique is due to the drawback regarding the disposal of the used plastic materials. A possible solution to this problem is the use of biodegradable plastics. The aim of this study was compare the impact of SS with biodegradable materials with SS with plastic film and others pest management techniques (i.e. organic matter amendment, calcium cyanamide and Dazomet fungicide application) on crop productivity, soilborne disease incidence, weed suppression, and soil chemical (total N, ammonium, nitrate, available phosphorus, organic matter, hydr…