Aims Crop rotations are key to conditioning the soil biotic community that underpins agricultural productivity. For instance, mustards and pearl millet have the potential to alter soil biota and suppress soil diseases prior to a cash crop. Here we explore the effects of various combinations of brown mustard and pearl millet rotational treatments on potato yield, soil and root associated biota. Methods Brown mustard (var. Calie...

Conservation tillage has shown potential to improve soil health and enhance crop productivity in various cropping systems. Moldboard plowing (MP) in the fall prior to the potato phase is a conventional practice in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, which leaves the soil prone to erosion and soil organic matter decline. Potato early dying disease complex (PED) is a major yield limiting factor in potato production in PEI. The o...

Potato ( Solanum tuberosum L.) production often requires intensive tillage with the moldboard plow (MP), which involves deeper soil tillage and turning of the soil to provide enough loose soil for proper tuberization. Although tillage with the MP allows better potato seedbed preparation and lower weed pressure, it is also associated with increased soil compaction, soil aggregate destruction, and increased soil organic matter (...

A survey of New Brunswick (NB) and Prince Edward Island (PEI) potato fields in crop rotation phase prior to potato production was conducted in fall (October and November) between 2017 and 2021. A total of 113 and 126 fields for NB and PEI, respectively, were surveyed with 20 to 35 fields each year tested in each province. Root lesion nematodes (RLN, Pratylenchus spp.) were detected in 99 and 98% of the fields for NB and PEI, r...