UC Davis

Soil-borne diseases and nitrogen availability are important limits on organic strawberry production. A trial using suppressive crop rotations to combat Verticillium wilt was conducted to see its effects on strawberry yields and net returns using a split-split-plot design. An ANOVA analysis was run to understand determinants of net returns. Results show that the suppression of wilt through the planting of non-host crops such as broccoli before the planting of strawberries can have significant effects on yield and net returns, and that suppressive crop rotations are potentially commercially viable.