Maximum Yield USA April/May 2019 | Page 25

Can Ozone Treat Pathogens in Fresh Produce? With the recent e-coli breakouts in romaine lettuce, growers have been trying to find ways to remove pathogens from fresh produce. Helmut Leili, a veteran agronomist who happens to be the CEO of Cardinal Fresh, suggests ozone treatments can deal with pathogens and bacteria in produce products. “Ozone is a very powerful and natural oxidizing gas that simply and quickly reverts back to natural oxygen,” Leili says. “The technology of creating ozone is well developed and used extensively in many applications, such as municipal water treatment, hospital sanitation, and medical treatments such as blood transfusion.” Millions of dollars worth of fresh fruits and vegetables are recalled weekly due to potentially deadly pathogens hiding in crevices of produce. Leili has been researching ozone application solutions almost five years and gotten to a point that allows ozone to be applied to exported fruit and vegetables in a safe and effective manner. FORMULA FOR SUCCESS ACF-420 is a unique bacterial formula designed to inoculate greenhouse soils and hydroponic mediums, enhancing the biological activity in all of the various media and hydroponics flow systems. a how ies s D d u t S YIEL — freshplaza.com NT 0% 20–3 OVEM ie E r, h R IMP and hea r l a t nt, and UK Funds Major Plant Diseases Research Program The British government is investing $22.8 million for a major bacterial plant diseases research program, which will be conducted under the umbrella of several UK research councils. The initial aim of the program is to prepare for the possible introduction and spread of the devastating plant pathogen Xylella fastidiosa (Xylella), described by the European Commission as “one of the most dangerous plant bacteria worldwide.” The nasty, insect- transmitted pathogen infects 500 species including crops, ornamental plants, and trees. In Italy, one million olive trees are dying from Xylella in a disease called Olive Quick Decline Syndrome. So far, Xylella has not been reported in the UK. Xylella is a bacterial pathogen transmitted by insects feeding on the xylem tissues that transport water in plants. These bugs include froghoppers in Europe. The common froghopper feeds on a variety of plants, and is commonly found across most of Northern Europe, including the UK. e vib ase- mor re dise nts! o m ant pla t resis Advanced, All Natural, Organic Soil Enhancement Our unique Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria (PGPB) combination broadens your plant’s photosynthetic capabilities, improves nutrient uptake making nitrogen and phosphorus more accessible, promoting faster germination and better growth all while improving your plants ability to resist stress caused by disease, pest and drought. HARVEST YOUR POTENTIAL | ACF-420.COM | — jic.ac.uk Maximum Yield 25