Liquid swine manure (LSM) can be used as a source of nutrients and organic matter for some agricultural crops, and may interfere in plant diseases caused by soil-borne plant pathogens. Thus, the effect of LSM on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) diseases caused by Sclerotium rolfsii was studied. LSM was incorporated into 1 m² plots at doses equivalent to 0, 20, 40, 60, and 80 m³ ha-1. The soil was infested two months prior to LSM application with 100 g of substrate (unhulled rice) colonized by the pathogen. Eighty bean seeds were sown per plot in two successive cultivations, 1 day and 45 days after LSM application. Intensity of the disease was evaluated based on plant emergence, final stand, and severity of the disease, in both cultivations. Microbial activity, ammonia concentration at the soil surface layer, and fertility levels were only evaluated in the second cultivation. A reduction in disease intensity was observed as LSM doses increased. Among the characteristics evaluated, the factors that best explain such a reduction are increased microbial activity, ammonia concentration, and copper and zinc levels.
Organic matter; microbial activity; suppressive soil
