Date of Award
8-2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Plant and Environmental Science
Committee Chair/Advisor
Dr. Matthew Cutulle
Committee Member
Dr. Churamani Khanal
Committee Member
Dr. Brian Ward
Committee Member
Dr. Raghupathy Karthikeyan
Committee Member
Dr. William Bridges
Abstract
Yellow nutsedge and southern root-knot nematode (SRKN) management is particularly challenging in organic sweetpotato production. Anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) has emerged as a promising non-chemical pest management strategy achieved by incorporating labile carbon amendments into the soil, covering the soil with impermeable plastic mulch, and irrigating the amended soil to saturation. Greenhouse and field studies were conducted at the Clemson University, Clemson and Coastal Research and Education Center, Clemson University, Charleston, South Carolina, in the 2023, 2024 and 2025 growing seasons to evaluate the impact of ASD on yellow nutsedge and SRKN. First, I documented that the advanced sweetpotato genotypes USDA-11-022, Ruddy, USDA-05-097, USDA-20-053, USDA-09-130, USDA-18-020 and USDA-19-076 showed greater compatibility with ASD regarding SRKN suppression. Second, sweetpotatoes should be planted after 1 or 2 weeks after termination of the ASD, and immediate planting after ASD needs to be avoided for any phytotoxic effect resulting from ASD. Next, locally available cotton seed meal (CSM) as carbon amendment for ASD provided comparable yellow nutsedge and SRKN suppression and improved the marketable yield to chicken manure + molasses without affecting sugar content of sweetpotato tubers. Furthermore, use of novel mulch polymers such as solar shrink and via flex vapor safe with CSM-induced ASD increased yellow nutsedge and SRKN suppression. The findings of this study demonstrated that ASD have the potential to suppress yellow nutsedge and SRKN in organic sweetpotato production systems while increasing the marketable sweetpotato yield.
Recommended Citation
Singh, Simardeep, "Weed and Root-Knot Nematode Management in Sweet Potato Through Anaerobic Soil Disinfestation" (2026). All Dissertations. 4393.
https://open.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/4393