Soil Solarization and Calcium Cyanamide Affect Plant Vigor, Yield, Nutritional Traits, and Nutraceutical Compounds of Strawberry Grown in a Protected Cultivation System

• Main Authors: Leo Sabatino, Fabio D’Anna, Carlo Prinzivalli, Giovanni Iapichino
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
• Series: Agronomy
• Subjects: <i>Fragaria × ananassa</i>; pre-plant treatments; N fruit accumulation; CaCN₂; crop performance; fruit quality
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/9/9/513

Soil solarization is a hydrothermal procedure of disinfesting soil of soilborne diseases and pests. Solarization can be combined with many other chemical or non-chemical alternatives to afford integrated pest and diseases management or improve plant yield. Calcium cyanamide (CaCN₂) is a fertilizer used in agriculture sector and is also effective in suppressing soilborne pathogens. The present study assessed the influences of different pre-plant CaCN₂ dosages on strawberry grown on solarized or non-solarized soil. Soil solarization and 500 kg ha^&#8722;1 CaCN₂ significantly increased early marketable yield by 105.3%, total marketable yield by 53.0% and firmness by 3.0%, respectively compared with the control (no solarization &#215; 0 kg ha^&#8722;1 of CaCN₂). Exposing solarized plots to CaCN₂ at 1000 kg ha^&#8722;1 significantly increased fruit ascorbic acid content by 77.5% and phenolic content by 13.3% compared with fruits from control plants. Overall, plants grown on solarized soil performed better than those cultivated on no-solarized plots. Plants grown on soil treated with a dosage of 500 or 1000 kg ha^&#8722;1 CaCN₂ increased plant height, number of shoots plant^&#8722;1, number of leaves plant^&#8722;1, root collar diameter, plant visual quality, anthocyanins, and antioxidant capacity compared to control plants. Fruits from plants grown on soil exposed to CaCN₂ with a dosage of 500 and 1000 kg ha^&#8722;1 showed a lower N fruit content (5.4 and 19.5%, respectively) than control plants (non-treated control).