Chinese Researchers Crack Peach Continuous Cropping Obstacle with Microbial Technology

Continuous cropping obstacle has become a major challenge plaguing fruit farmers in China’s main peach-producing areas. Hubei Province, an important early-maturing peach production region, has a total planting area of over 1 million mu. However, in northern and northwestern Hubei, such as Xiaogan, years of continuous cropping have significantly shortened the economic life of peach trees, leading to slow growth, premature senescence, reduced yield and quality of newly planted peach trees, which has seriously affected fruit farmers’ income.

Guangming Net reports that continuous cropping harms include serious accumulation of pathogens, reduced soil microbial activity, unbalanced soil salinity and pH, and damaged crop membrane structure. Coupled with factors such as rainy and humid weather, heavy soil and high incidence of gummosis in southern China, the problem has been further exacerbated. Currently, there is a lack of special rootstocks resistant to continuous cropping in production, and traditional cultivation measures cannot fundamentally solve this dilemma.

This predicament is expected to be resolved. Professor Liu Junwei’s research team from Huazhong Agricultural University, a position scientist of the National Modern Peach Industry Technology System, has conducted years of research focusing on the 25-year positioned continuous cropping system of first-crop, second-crop and third-crop peach trees in Yangdian Town, Xiaogan City, Hubei Province. Their latest research results have been published in The ISME Journal, a top international journal in the field of microbial ecology.

Through field monitoring, multi-omics joint analysis, and functional verification of pot and hydroponic experiments, the research team systematically revealed the mechanism by which rhizosphere microorganisms synergistically degrade autotoxic substances and alleviate continuous cropping stress in peach trees. They isolated and screened 3 high-efficiency strains from the rhizosphere of peach seedlings, and the combined inoculation of the three strains can significantly alleviate the inhibitory effect of amygdalin on peach seedlings.

“These functional microorganisms not only promote the degradation of autotoxic substances, but also activate the jasmonic acid signaling pathway of peach trees and maintain redox homeostasis, thus achieving both ‘detoxification’ and ‘immunity’,” explained Professor Liu Junwei. China Net notes that peach industry is an important driving force for rural revitalization in Xiaogan, and solving the continuous cropping obstacle is crucial to boosting the industry’s development and increasing farmers’ income.

The achievement not only provides a new explanation for the formation and restoration mechanism of peach continuous cropping obstacle from the perspective of rhizosphere microecology, but also offers practical technical paths for fruit farmers. The team plans to develop special anti-continuous cropping functional bacterial fertilizers, promoting simple and green cultivation of peach trees and revitalizing old peach orchards.

Wei Heng, person in charge of Xiaochang Tianyuan Planting Base in Hubei, said the research results bring new hope to local peach farmers. “We have long been troubled by continuous cropping problems, and this microbial technology is expected to help us improve fruit yield and quality, and increase our income substantially.”