Changes in soil biota and plant microbiome under chemical-based and integrated-based pest management strategies in soybean-maize rotation in a non-tillage system yield the same carbon pools below and aboveground

• Grant number: 25/00652-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: March 01, 2025
• End date: February 28, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Plant Health
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Luis Cônsoli
• Grantee: Ewerton da Costa Lira
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/10573-4 - Center for Carbon Research in Tropical Agriculture (CCARBON), AP.CEPID

Abstract

The soil biota plays critical functional roles for the soil health, providing nutrients and minerals readily accessible for plant growth. Moreover, soil-associated organisms also serve as primers of the plant immune system, directly interfering in plant response against pests. Many of these soil-associated organisms, particularly fungi and bacteria establish associations with the plant radicular systems, as the mycorrhiza, and/or establish themselves as endophytes. Plant endophytes provide metabolites to plant and act on the activation and regulation of plant gene expression, enhancing the growth of plants and inducing several other physiological alterations that affect plant interactions with the second and third trophic levels. The soil biota and the quality of the soil are drastically affected using the land, and the intensive application of pesticides has been shown to interfere with different communities in the soil. By interfering with soil biota communities, pesticides also affect the functional contribution of the soil biota to a health soil, and the interactions plants establish with the existing organisms at the rhizosphere or carry as important endophytes. Pesticides are also reported to act as potent plant stressors and interfere with plant physiology. Pesticides may even lead to the elimination of important endophytes, interfering with plant health and growth and, ultimately, their overall consumption of carbon dioxide. The availability of alternative strategies for pest control allows the implementation of sustainable strategies for pest management as they provide opportunities to reduce the applications of organic chemistries by diversifying the control tactics adopted, for example, by including biological products (virus, fungi, bacteria, predators, parasitoids) and natural products for controlling diseases, weeds, mites and insects. The adoption of these alternatives integrated with the well-planned use of pesticides can mitigate the impact of pesticides in the soil biome and plant microbiome, resulting in the production of larger carbon pools below and aboveground. If the integrated-based strategy results in similar yields than the conventional chemically based pest management strategy adopted while increasing the carbon pools, we will have made a relevant contribution to foster the implementation of integrated management strategies while contributing for the development of a carbon-based sustainable agriculture. (AU)