Impact of microwave disinfestation treatments on the bacterial communities of no-till agricultural soils

Abstract

Growing herbicide resistance has encouraged the development of new technologies for weed control. Microwave (MW) heating of soil before sowing has been shown to reduce weed establishment in no-till farming systems and substantially increases crop productivity. However, the effect of this technology on the soil microbial community in general, and on beneficial soil microbes such as ammonia oxidizers in particular, warrants further study. In order to check the effect of MW soil disinfestation treatments on the soil biota, indigenous soil microcosms were treated under a horn antenna of the MW prototype for three distinct durations. Immediately after heating (T0) and 28 days after heating (T28) ..