• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.345-355
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• 2017

This study was conducted to evaluate rice seed disinfection efficacy of loess-sulfur for the suppression of Bakanae disease caused by Fusarium fujikuroi. Rice seeds were treated at different concentrations of loess-sulfur, soaking time and temperature, and combination of hot-water treatment. Rice cultivar, Shindongjin harvested from Bakanae disease-infested area in 2015, was used. Loess-sulfur was treated as follows; concentration of undiluted solution, 2%, 1% and 0.5%; soaking time of 24 and 48 hours; treatment temperature of $20^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$; hot water treatment or not. Optimal conditions of rice seed disinfection were selected soaking time of 48 hours and the suspension of 0.5% and 1% loess-sulfur by investigating seed germination and isolation frequency of Fusarium spp. on Komada agar medium in vitro, and were established 3 disinfection conditions as hot water ($60^{\circ}C$, 10 min.) + 1% loess-sulfur ($20^{\circ}C$, 48 hours), 1% loess-sulfur only ($30^{\circ}C$, 48 hours) and 1% loess-sulfur only ($20^{\circ}C$, 48 hours) through additional test in greenhouse. Above 3 conditions were verified by rice seedling box and paddy field test in the way of investigating Bakanae diseased plants (%) and healthy plants (%). Consequently, most effective rice seed disinfection conditions on Bakanae disease were combination of hot water and 1% loess-sulfur and loess-sulfur only at $30^{\circ}C$. Furthermore, treatments with these conditions showed control value of 100% were maintained from seedling to the heading stage in the field. However, treatment of 1% loess-sulfur only at $20^{\circ}C$ showed low control value of 78.2% in paddy field. Hot water only treatment turned out to be an effective disinfection method when conducted thoroughly with $60^{\circ}C$, 10 min. However, it was thought additional soaking process with loess-sulfur after hot water treatment served more high control effect against Bakanae disease when rice seeds were disinfected on a large scale. This results expected rice seed disinfection with loess-sulfur were effectively and easily usable method if farmers had only one of either hot water-disinfector or seed-disinfector. In addition, loess-sulfur is well-known to farmers, simple to manufacture method and cheap.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.46-51
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• 2015

BACKGROUND: This study aimed at investigating the effects of sulfur-containing compounds widely used as environment-friendly organic fungicides against ginseng anthracnose, and determining the appropriate application concentration for lowering chemical injury to ginseng leaves. Ginseng anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, is a destructive disease that significantly reduces the yield of ginseng. METHODS AND RESULTS: Ginseng anthracnose, caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, is a destructive disease that significantly reduces the yield of ginseng. In a 2-year-old ginseng grown in a pot, treatment with loess-sulfur complex containing 0.06% sulfur and fermented loess-sulfur complex containing 0.13% sulfur did not show any chemical injuries. In order to measure the therapeutic effectiveness, various sulfur-containing compounds were applied to the plants after they were infected with ginseng anthracnose. Treatment with lime sulfur complex (400 dilution) showed the highest ginseng anthracnose control value, followed by fermented loess-sulfur complex (20 dilution), fermented loess-sulfur complex (40 dilution), and loess-sulfur complex (400 dilution) treatments. These compounds were applied before the outbreak of anthracnose disease in order to measure the preventive effectiveness, and in this case, treatment with fermented loess-sulfur complex (40 dilution) showed the highest control value and it was comparable to the value of the pesticide treatment used as the control in this experiment. CONCLUSION: Fermented loess-sulfur complex could be recommended as an environment-friendly organic material to control the occurrence of ginseng anthracnose.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.376-382
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• 2014

The soluble loess-sulfur mixture allowed standing to remove insoluble component materials for five weeks after manufacturing. We decreased the pH level of soluble loess-sulfur mixture at pH 1.0 modified with decreasing 25% sodium hydroxide than original content. The pH ranges of soluble loess-sulfur mixture solutions were adjusted to pH 5.0-pH 11.0 (pH 1 unit) with brown rice vinegar (pH 2.8). The pH of original loess-sulfur mixture was about pH 13 and damaged the foliar parts and young leaves of tomato after twice application. These stock solutions can be diluted 500:1 with tap water to make a 0.05% working solution and were sprayed two times with 7 days interval to the leaf and stem of tomato, which were spontaneously infected with E. cichoracearum. Control efficacy of powdery mildew ranged from 85% to 90% at 7 days after first application. After second application, each loess-sulfur mixture solutions adjusted pH level significantly suppressed the powdery mildew disease in tomato. Consequently, loess-sulfur complex adjusted pH level with brown rice vinegar was suggested to be low in acute toxicity at all different pH values and suggested to use an agent for control of tomato powdery mildew in organic farming.

• The Korean Journal of Pesticide Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.369-375
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• 2012

Loess-sulfur complex has been widely used as an environmental friendly organic materials for insecticides and fungicides in crop cultivation. However, there are high concerns about skin and eye irritation for farm workers due to the high alkaline properties of loess-sulfur complex. The acute toxicity evaluation was conducted with three samples of loess-sulfur complex in different pH (pH 9, 10, 11) in order to supply the evidentiary data for selecting the optimal product among the test materials. The results of acute oral toxicity using rats showed $LD_{50}$ of over 2,000 mg/kg b.w. for all three samples of loess-sulfur complex. The calculated acute dermal $LD_{50}$ of all tested materials was over 4,000 mg/kg b.w.. The Skin and eye irritation indicated that all tested materials have no irritation. Consequently, it was suggested that loess-sulfur complex be low in acute toxicity at all different pH values (pH 9~11).

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.365-378
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• 2018

Anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, which is one of the major diseases of red dates, causes severe damages in jujube (Zizyphus jujuba Miller) production in Korea. This study was done to evaluate the inhibition of anthracnose occurrence and pathogen growth by the treatment of environment-friendly materials such as a Bordeaux mixture and loess-sulfur mixture and by defense-response signaling in jujube. The in vitro test of the environment-friendly materials and signaling molecules that were routinely applied did not exhibit any antifungal activities against the pathogen for jujube anthracnose. The Bordeaux mixture and loess-sulfur mixture at a two-fold concentration showed inhibition zones that were 16.0 and 20.3 mm in diameter, respectively. In the pathogen inoculation test with detached jujube tree leaves, while treatment with the environment-friendly materials diluted by half showed no inhibition of lesion development, they did show inhibition of lesion development when they were routinely applied to the leaves. In detached jujube fruits inoculated with the pathogen, better suppressive effects by the treatment of the environment-friendly materials were seen in the fruits at a young stage rather than in the ripening stage. The in vivo test with jujube trees in pots showed that the treatment of salicylic acid (1 mM) resulted in the best suppressive effects against lesion development. The results suggest that it is possible to manage the incidence of anthracnose by the treatment of environment-friendly materials such as the Bordeaux and loess-sulfur mixtures and signaling chemicals such as ethephon, hydrogen peroxide, methyl jasmonate, and salicylic acid in jujube trees and fruits. Consequently, these findings suggest that environment-friendly materials and defense response signaling molecules could be used as suitable candidates for sustainable agrochemicals to manage anthracnose in jujube production.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.103 no.4
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• pp.703-708
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• 2014

This study was conducted to investigate effects of soil amendments on survival rate and growth of seedlings in a semi-arid region, Mongolia. 2-year-old Populus sibirica and Ulmus pumila seedlings were planted in alkaline sandy soils and treated with 2 levels of nitrogen, elemental sulfur, artificial moisture retention and converted loess. After 4 months, the seedling survival rate of both species decreased as the amount of nitrogen increased. Nitrogen has been generally known to increase seedling survival rate and growth by supplying nutrients, however, reduced survival rate in this study might be affected by consequential increase in soil osmotic pressure, which was caused by excessive nitrogen fertilization. The root collar diameter (RCD) growth of both species increased significantly by the treatment of converted loess, and only RCD growth of P. sibirica increased by the artificial moisture retention treatment. Although P. sibirica is drought-tolerant, it is in the group of Populus spp. which requires a high capacity of available water. Conversely, the elemental sulfur treatment showed no effect on survival rate and RCD growth for both species due to the low oxidation of sulfur in arid soils. The extended monitoring of seedling growth and soil characteristics is required to elucidate the long-term effects of soil amendments in the semi-arid region, and the further studies are also needed to examine the appropriate amount of fertilizers for both species.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.919-929
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• 2016

This study investigated the effect of organic materials (Bordeaux, Loess-sulfur) and the removal of apical shoot against downy mildew disease on cucumber cultivated in greenhouse. Five kinds of Bordeaux were made by adjusting mixing ratio of lime and copper sulfate in order to elucidate the optimal combination. The 4-6type Bordeaux was selected as the most effective combination for controlling cucumber downy mildew. Loess-sulfur showed inhibitory activity against cucumber downey mildew, but it was less effective than Bordeaux. It was confirmed that apical shoot cutting could reduce the incidence of cucumber downy mildew disease by 56.3%. When apical shoots of susceptible cucumber variety were cut at different leaf stages, disease incidence by early apical shoot cutting treatment was lower than that of late apical shoot cutting treatment. However in a resistant variety, 'Heukryungsamcheok', disease incidences of all cucumber apical shoot cutting treatments were lower than that of non-cutting treatment, but there was no differences between apical shoot cutting treatments due to low disease incidences. In addition, when organic materials and apical shoot cutting treatment were carried out in parallel, the combined treatments of organic materials and apical shoot cutting showed low disease incidence of cucumber downy mildew compared to untreated control. The lowest disease incidence of cucumber downy mildew was recorded in the combined treatment of 4-6type Bordeaux and apical shoot cutting. This study confirmed that apical shoot cutting can reduce the disease incidence of cucumber downy mildew and the combined treatment of apical shoot cutting and organic materials showed higher suppressive effect against cucumber downy mildew.

• Research in Plant Disease
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.153-161
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• 2018

We selected eight resistant cultivars including 'Heukryongsamcheok', 'Heukgeumsolsamcheok' and 'Gangryeoksamcheok' showing high suppressive effect against cucumber downy mildew (CDM) through plastic film house and field trials in spring and autumn season in 2015. Of them, these three varieties, 'Heukryongsamcheok', 'Heukgeumsolsamcheok' and 'Gangryeoksamcheok' were used to evaluated suppressive effect against CDM by comparing disease severity (area under disease development progress curve, AUDPC) with those of three susceptible varieties under plastic film house condition. AUDPC of three resistant cultivars was in the range of 10.9 to 23.6, meanwhile those of three susceptible cultivars was in the range of 286.7 to 290.3. Consequently, we confirmed that cultivation of the selected resistant cultivars can reduce CDM in vivo. When disease severity (diseased leaf area) was investigated on a resistant cultivar ('Heukryongsamcheok') sprayed without any organic materials and susceptible cultivars sprayed single-, two times- and three times with Bordeaux mixture, sulfur-loess mixture and $Kocide^R$ (copper hydroxide), respectively, it was the lowest in the resistant cultivar plot compared to susceptible cultivar plots sprayed with any organic materials. In addition, we evaluated control effect of the selected resistant cultivar by comparing that of organic materials including lime sulfur mixture, Bordeaux mixture and garlic extract. As a result, Bordeaux mixture showed the highest control effect against CDM. AUDPC of Bordeaux mixture, resistant cultivar, lime sulfur, garlic extract and untreated control was 3.9, 10.6, 95.6, 24.9, and 258.7, respectively. Based on the above-mentioned results, we think that the resistant cultivars and Bordeaux mixture can be effectively used to control CDM as one of control measures under the farmhouse condition.