Plants spend a good portion of their assimilates for root exudation. The importance of this process for plants is still being discovered. The effects on rhizospheric organisms (also parasitic), on adjacent plants (allelopathy), on larger nutrient uptake and more are rather well kown. Root exudates can be roughly divided into low molecular weight and high molecular weight substances, each having different modes of action. The diploma thesis focuses on possibilities of using root exudates against soil pests. New, environmentally friendly control options against pests are being investigated in order to increase the production of organic food and restrict the use of synthetic pesticides as a result of stricter legislation. There are many potential plants for root exudate production; here I put the emphasis on pea, Cruciferae and corn. However, the larger-scale extraction of root exudates is still in its infancy, and most of the extraction methods are only suitable for laboratory experiments. The greatest potential for producing exudates in cultivation is the technique of continuous rinsing. The application of root exudates, however, can be executed through crop rotation, interplanting, biofumigation, extract spraying, and more. The potential of using root exudates as a preventive agent in organic production is very promising based on the articles reviewed here.
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