Wild blueberries ( Vaccinium angustifolium Ait. To satisfy this increase in demand, producers are on constant lookout for agricultural practices that will increase their yield.
![root cropit root cropit](https://thefiftypluslife.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Root_Vegetables_11.jpg)
These health benefits may explain why the global demand for blueberries is increasing worldwide ( Brazelton, 2013). Blueberries are among the fruits with the highest content of anthocyanins, pigments from the flavonoids family, which have antioxidant properties ( Wu et al., 2006 Kalt et al., 2020). In the case of blueberries, studies have shown that their consumption induces positive effects on cognitive, vascular, and gluco-regulatory functions ( Krikorian et al., 2010 Whyte et al., 2018 Kalt et al., 2020). According to our study, thermal pruning has a limited short-term influence on the wild blueberry ecosystem but may have a potential impact on pests (notably Septoria infection), which should be explored in future studies to determine the burning frequency necessary to control this disease.īlueberries are labeled as “functional food,” a group of products that are supposed to have health benefits in addition to the nutrients they provide. However, burning at high intensities temporarily reduced Septoria leaf spot disease in the season following thermal pruning. The fungal community was dominated by ericoid mycorrhizal fungi, while the bacterial community was mainly composed of Acidobacteriales, Isosphaerales, Frankiales, and Rhizobiales. Our results also showed that bacterial and fungal communities did not significantly change between burning treatments. Soil phosphorus was the only parameter with a significant albeit temporary change (1 month after thermal pruning) for soil chemistry. Overall, yield, fruit ripeness, and several other agronomical variables were not significantly impacted by the burning treatments. MiSeq amplicon sequencing was used to determine the diversity as well as the structure of the bacterial and fungal communities.
Root cropit trial#
A field trial was conducted using a block design where agronomic variables were documented throughout the 2-year growing period. This project aimed to document the effects of four gradual thermal pruning intensities on the wild blueberry performance, weeds, diseases, as well as the rhizosphere fungal and bacterial communities. Thus far, no study has investigated into the effect of thermal pruning intensity on the wild blueberry microbiome in agricultural settings. Furthermore, fire is known to alter the soil microbiome as it impacts the soil organic layer and chemistry. Nevertheless, there is no clear consensus on the optimal fire intensity required to observe these outcomes. Both practices are known to enhance and maintain high yields however, thermal pruning was documented to have an additional sanitation effect by reducing weeds and fungal diseases outbreaks. Thermal pruning was a common pruning method in the past but has progressively been replaced by mechanical pruning for economic reasons.
![root cropit root cropit](https://assets.climatecentral.org/images/made/08-29-14_CNN_crop_pest_1050_722_s_c1_c_c.jpg)
3Direction générale des sciences et de la technologie, Agriculture et Agroalimentaire Canada, Gouvernement du Canada, Normandin, QC, Canada.
![root cropit root cropit](https://post.healthline.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/cassava-roots-thumb.jpg)
2Laboratoire sur les écosystèmes boréaux terrestres (EcoTer), Département des Sciences Fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Chicoutimi, QC, Canada.1Institut de Recherche en Biologie Vègétale, Département de sciences biologiques, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.Paré 2, Anne Schmitt 2, Jean Lafond 3 and Mohamed Hijri 1,4 *