Which practice is used to bury disease inoculum?

• A. Tillage and Cultivation
• B. Smother Crops
• C. Crop Rotation
• D. Mulching

Answer: (A)

Burying disease inoculum is achieved by disturbing the soil to move pathogens away from the surface where they survive and infect new crops. Tillage and cultivation physically turn the soil and mix crop residues into deeper layers, burying the pathogens and exposing them to less favorable conditions and greater microbial competition. This reduces the amount of viable inoculum available to start infections in the next crop.

The other options don’t perform that burial action. Smother crops mainly block light and compete with weeds or provide a living barrier; they don’t actively bury inoculum. Crop rotation reduces inoculum over time by removing susceptible hosts, but it doesn’t physically bury the pathogens. Mulching covers the surface to reduce moisture loss and may suppress some surface pathogens, but it doesn’t move inoculum into the soil profile.