Plant Protect. Sci., X:X | DOI: 10.17221/186/2025-PPS

Effect of biofumigation on soil-borne pathogen Rhizoctonia solaniOriginal Paper

Ludmila Holková ORCID...1, Jhonny Alba-Mejía ORCID...1, Barbora Jílková ORCID...1, Věra Loubová2, Markéta Kuljová2, Martin Kmoch2
1 Department of Crop Science, Breeding and Plant Protection, Faculty of AgriSciences, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
2 Potato Research Institute Havlíčkův Brod, Ltd., Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic

Rhizoctonia solani is an important fungal pathogen that causes a disease technically known as black scurf of potato. Integrated pest management favours the use of sustainable biological methods, such as "biofumigation". This field study aimed to evaluate, in two independent experiments, the antimicrobial role of crushed mustard seed residues on the abundance of the fungal pathogen R. solani in soil. Potatoes were grown in soil inoculated with R. solani mycelium under greenhouse and field conditions, and soil infection levels were assessed by qPCR at the end of the growing season. In both culture conditions, a statistically significant reduction in specific R. solani DNA was detected in the variants with crushed mustard seed residues in the soil compared to the control variants without crushed mustard seed residues (5-fold in the greenhouse experiment and 3–13-fold in the field experiment).

Keywords: biofumigation; mustard seeds; potatoes; Rhizoctonia solani; soil pathogen quantification

Received: December 2, 2025; Revised: April 7, 2026; Accepted: April 16, 2026; Prepublished online: October 14, 2026 

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