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Re: [SANET-MG] BBC NEWS | UK | England | Tyne/Wear | Researchers hail organic potatoes



Hi Sal, Lawrence, Kathryn, John and all others interested in this thread:

I had a somewhat stressful week and promised to finish a couple of
proposals today, but I'll try to answer your questions:

> Douglas Hinds wrote:

>>>> Toward biocontrol of Phytophthora using the beneficial fungus
>>>> Pisolithus Tinctorius, which produces substances with
>>>> antibiotic activity contra Phytophthora, according to sources I
>>>> found in Medline (if I recall - I was using Uncover, I
>>>> believe), a biomedical database, in 1998. (I don't have the
>>>> details on this computer).

>> Sal then asked:

>>>where do you buy your beneficial fungus and any other life forms
>>>your raising when you make the tea

>> Pisolithus Tintorius can be obtained from: Plant Health Care, Inc.,
>> Pittsburgh, PA <www.planthealthcare.com/> (They sell: MycorTree PT
>> Spore Spray)

>> There may be other sources available.

>>> what do you feed while brewing.

>>> what all goes into the tea?

>> I haven't got that far yet.

> When used with potatoes how is Pisolithus Tinctorius applied? to
> the seed potatoes before planting? segmented or whole? after
> planting? Is Pisolithus Tinctorius best applied

> 1)alone, i.e. according to manufacturer's directions? or

> 2)in compost tea?

> If 2) how/when is it added to the tea?

> What compost tea ingredients would be beneficial

> a)to Pisolithus Tinctorius and/or

> b)in combination with Pisolithus Tinctorius, to plants the tea is
> applied to. What compost tea ingredients would be harmful to, or
> not beneficial to, Pisolithus Tinctorius?

I began farming organically in 1968 and along with a number
of others, constituted CeDeCoR, the Centro para el Desarrollo
Comunitario y Rural (Center for Community and rural Development)
in 1995.

At present, my work focuses on the need to address the kinds of
questions you're asking.

CeDeCoR organizes sustainable agriculture projects, proposes changes
in public policy, elaborates legislative initiatives, and presents
sustainable and equitable models for development.

One of the fundamental elements of our proposals is the need for
developing the crop, region and season specific, biologically
intensive technological packages required to create sustainable
agricultural productions systems that depend on natural biological
processes rather than ... (you already know what and their days are
numbered, whether they know it or not).

The need for organizing collaborative, farm based research projects
forms part of what CeDeCoR proposes (as does SERANet - the Socially
and Ecologically Responsible Agriculture Network, which is part of
our international outreach effort).

So - if any of you are interested in working together to resolve
some of these issues, I'd be glad to form part of that group.

Getting back to your questions, google returned 63,800 hits for
"Pisolithus Tinctorius", one of which is:
http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:gVnoJdPqyPwJ:plant-materials.nrcs.usda.gov/pubs/nmpmcsy1191.pdf+%22Pisolithus+Tinctorius%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=30&client=mozilla

  The Influence Of Pisolithus Tinctorius Inoculation On Greenhouse
  Growth And First-YearTransplant Survival Of ConiferSeedlings
  By: J.T. Harrington, A.M. Wagner, and D.R. Dreesen

The focus of the article was not seedling growth, not Phytophthora
protection, but does mention the inoculation method used and the
fact that the roots of inoculated seedlings did show signs of
Mycorrhizal colonization :

As I mentioned, I learned long ago that Pisolithus Tinctorius
produces both plant growth factors and substances that are active
against Phytophthora and known to produce significant results with
some plants.

  Three inoculation treatments were used. The first treatment involved
  inoculating 196 seedlings of each species with a commercial source
  of Pisolithus tinctorius six weeks after germination. Inoculation
  was accomplished by drenching the root plug with a spore suspension
  of P. tinctorius in water (MycorTree PT Spore Spray, Plant Health
  Care, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, USA 1995)...

  Mycorrhizal colonization was determined by removing five to ten
  seedlings of each inoculation by species treatment combination
  from their containers and visually inspecting the root plug for
  presence of mycorrhizal inoculation using a procedure modified
  from Cordell et al. (1990). Lateral roots growing on the periphery
  of the root plug were examined for the presence of root
  bifurcations and fungal hyphae as indicators of the presence of
  mycorrhizal colonization.

I intend to inoculate pineapple offshoots with Pisolithus and
received plans for a machine to producing inoculant from NIFTAL,
a group in Hawaii that supports the use of nitrogen fixing
microorganisms.

If you want to continue this here or on seranet, let me know.

Douglas

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