Determination of the correlation between soilborne pathogen inactivation and radio wave exposure.

Radio wave treatment is considered as an alternative for steam treatment of soil in glasshouse horticulture for pathogen suppression. In principle, radio wave treatment can be selectively focused on localized infestations, as well as accommodate renewable energy sources. It may therefore help to significantly reduce fossil fuel consumption for soil treatment in greenhouse horticulture. A prototype treatment system has been developed prior to this study. Following this system's development, the next step is to develop optimum treatment strategies for its application. To this end, this study presents the development of an experimental method to perform quantified experimentation at laboratory scale on pathogen infested soil samples. The study is an interdisciplinary approach that merges respective contributions from microwave engineering, control engineering, and phytopathology. The design requirements for the experimental system are outlined. The design of the layout of the apparatus, computer simulations to optimize its geometry, and the design of power and temperature control are discussed. The study is finalized by reporting a demonstration of the experimental method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]