Sunn Hemp Cover Cropping and Solarization as Alternatives to Soil 

Fumigants for Pineapple Production

K.-H. Wanga and B.S. Sipes C.R.R. Hooks
University of Hawaii University of Maryland
Department of Plant and Department of Entomology
Environmental Protection Sciences College Park, MD
Honolulu, HI USA
USA

Keywords: cover crop, reniform nematode, soil health, solarization, weeds

Abstract
A field trial was conducted to compare the impacts of preplant treatments of
1) sunn hemp (SH) planted for 4 months, 2) solarization (Sol) for 2 months, 3) SH
planted for 4 months followed by 2 months of Sol (SH+Sol), or 4) fallow with weeds
(C) on plant-parasitic nematodes, weeds and soil health conditions. Soil samples
were also collected from a nearby commercial pineapple field planted at the same
time but receiving plantation practices (PP) that included deep sub-soiling, 1 year
bare fallow, followed by Telone (1,3-dichloropene) and several pre-emergence
herbicide treatments (Ametryn, Bromacil, Diuron and Hexazinone) prior to
planting. Pineapple slips were planted subsequently. At 3 months after pineapple
planting, SH reduced numbers of reniform nematodes, but SH+Sol did not improve
the reniform nematode suppressive effect as compared to SH. However, SH+Sol
suppressed weeds more efficiently than SH or Sol alone. Nematode community
analysis was used to evaluate soil health. Based on structure index, plantation
practices severely disturbed nematode communities, but solarization disturbed soil
health for less than 3 months. On the other hand, SH enriched soil nutrients as
indicated by nematode enrichment index, enhanced populations of bacterial and
fungal feeding nematodes at pre-plant as compared to C, and supported higher
numbers of soil mesoarthropods than PP even up to 8 months after pineapple
planting.

INTRODUCTION
Reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) is one of the major pests of
pineapples (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) in Hawaii. Currently, pre-plant fumigation with
1,3-dichloropropene (Telone®) or metam sodium (Vapam®) followed by periodic post-
plant nematicides application such as fenamiphos (Nemacur®) or oxamyl (Vydate®) are
commonly used in Hawaii to manage plant-parasitic nematodes in pineapple plantings.
Due to environmental health concerns, increasing fuel cost, and the risk of losing soil
fumigants, alternatives to soil fumigants are needed. Soil solarization and cover cropping
are some of the viable non-chemical approaches for managing soil-borne plant-parasitic
nematodes. Previously, it was found that sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea) suppresses
reniform nematodes by multiple mechanisms (Wang et al., 2001). These mechanisms
include being a poor host of reniform nematodes, delaying the development of female
reniform nematodes, producing an allelopathic compound that is toxic to the nematode,
and enhancing nematode-trapping fungi that could prey on the nematode (Wang et al.,
2001). However, suppressive effects of sunn hemp cover crop against reniform nematodes
are not consistent (Wang et al., 2002).
Alternatively, soil solarization provides another option for nematode management.
Soil solarization involves covering the soil with transparent mulch for 6 weeks so that it
reaches temperatures detrimental to plant-parasitic nematodes, weeds and other soilborne
pests and pathogens (McSorley and Parrado, 1986; Stapleton and Devay, 1983).
a
koonhui@hawaii.edu

Proc. 7th International Pineapple Symposium 221 

Eds.: H. Abdullah et al.
Acta Hort. 902, ISHS 2011
However, soil solarization alone might not be efficient in suppressing reniform nematodes
deeper in the soil because it only heats the top soil layer (0 to 10 cm from the surface)
(Chellemi, 1997; Wang et al., 2008).
The ability of reniform nematodes to survive in dry soil conditions through
“anhydrobiosis” makes managing these nematodes a challenge. Anhydrobiosis is a
survival strategy whereby the nematode coils and survives months to years without
feeding (Tsai, 1978). Nematodes in their active stage might be easier to kill by various
nematode control strategies than those in the quiescent stage. Common pineapple
plantation practice often involves deep sub-soiling followed by a one-year fallow before
the next crop is planned. Lack of a food source and drying associated with fallowing
might allow the nematodes to enter into an anhydrobiotic stage, making them more
difficult to kill.
Besides having a nematode suppressive effect, cover crops provide many other
benefits to the soil system including improving soil health, as is the case for sunn hemp
(Wang et al., 2004, 2008). Free-living nematodes have been used as soil health
bioindicators because they are ubiquitous and have diverse feeding behaviors and life
strategies (Bongers and Bongers, 1998; Ferris et al., 2001; Neher, 2001; Yeates et al.,
1993). The proportion of nematode trophic groups, diversity, richness and nematode
faunal analysis (Ferris et al., 2001; Neher, 2001) are good indicators of soil health
conditions. Nematode community indices such as Enrichment Index (EI), Structure Index
(SI) and Channel Index (CI) (Ferris et al., 2001) have been used to assess soil health. EI
assesses food web responses to nutrient availability, SI reflects the degree of the soil food
webs maturity or complexity and is used as an indicator for soil disturbance and CI
determines the dominant decomposition pathways, whether by bacterial or fungal
decomposition, and reflects the level of stress in the soil community. Soil mesoarthropods
such as predatory and fungivorous mites, and collembola also have been used as soil
health indicators as they have important roles in soil nutrient cycling (Coleman et al.,
2004).
We proposed to examine if integrating solarization with sunn hemp, which acts as
a poor host of reniform nematodes, could prevent reniform nematodes from entering into
their anhydrobiotic stage. The specific objectives of the study were:
1. To examine the potential of sunn hemp cover cropping and soil solarization as
alternatives to soil fumigation for nematode and weed management in a pineapple
agroecosystem.
2. To examine whether sunn hemp cover cropping or integration of sunn hemp cover
cropping and soil solarization could improve soil health conditions as compared to
standard pineapple plantation practice that includes intensive tillage, nematicides and
herbicides.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A field trial was established at the Whitmore Experiment Station, Whitmore, HI
with known histories of pineapple cultivation and reniform nematode infestation.
Pineapple plants from previous crops were disked and ploughed into the soil, and the field
was fallowed with weeds for 2 years. The preplant treatments were 1) sunn hemp (SH)
planted for 6 months, 2) solarization (Sol) for 2 months, 3) SH grown for 4 months
followed by 2 months of solarization (SH+Sol), and 4) fallow with weeds as the control
(C). Sunn hemp seed was planted on 22 August 2008 at 42 kg/ha and was irrigated with a
drip system. Solarization was conducted between 27 March and 20 May 2009. The
experimental design was a randomized-complete block with 4 replications. Each plot was
3.6×15.0 m in size. Due to low soil pH (pH=4.9), SH growth was stunted so 8.96 Mg ha-1
of agricultural lime was tilled in and SH was reseeded. Soil pH was 5.0 one month after
the lime application, which is still considered low for this crop (Rotar and Joy, 1983).
Solarization was accomplished by covering plots of this treatment with transparent,
25-µm-thick, uv-stabilized, low-density polyethylene mulch. Soil temperatures were
monitored at 5 and 15 cm soil depths in Sol, SH+Sol, and C using WatchDog data loggers

222 
(Spectrum Technologies, Inc., Plainfield, IL) throughout the solarization period.
Pineapple slips of PRI 73-114 (‘MD-2’) were planted on 9 July 2009 in 4 rows for each
plot at a density of 3.43 plants/m2. Plants were fertilized and maintained according to
plantation practices (Evans et al., 1997). Unfortunately, at 8 months after planting, most
plants were damaged due to wild pig feeding. Nematode, weeds, mesoarthropods, and
D-leaf weight data were collected prior to the pig damage.

Nematode Assay
Soil samples were taken for nematode assay prior to treatment installment, after
sunn hemp incorporation, at the end of solarization, and at 3 and 8 months after pineapple
planting. At 3 months after pineapple planting (MAP), 4 additional soil samples were
taken from a commercial pineapple field located approximately 7.7 km away, planted on
the same date so as to allow comparison between non-chemical preplant treatments and
the standard pineapple plantation practice (PP). Each sample was collected from a
3.6×15.0 m quadrat. The PP plots were fallow for 1 year, sub-soiled to a depth of 60 cm,
fumigated with Telone® 2 weeks prior to pineapple planting, followed by preemergence
herbicide applications of Ametryn, Bromacil, Diuron and Hexazinone. Subsequently, soil
was periodically treated with the post-planting nematicides Vydate® and Nemacur®. Six
20-cm deep soil cores were collected per plot from the Whitmore and PP sites; the 6 cores
for each plot or site were composited into one sample. Nematodes were extracted from
250 cm3 of soil by elutriation (Byrd et al., 1976). All nematodes were identified to genus
(but occasionally to family or order) level, counted, and assigned to one of the five
trophic groups: bacterivores, fungivores, herbivores, omnivores, or predators (Yeates et
al., 1993). The feeding habit of Tylenchidae (mainly Filenchus and Tylenchus) was
classified as fungivore (McSorley and Frederick, 1999). For plant-parasitic nematode
analysis, abundance of the most predominant herbivore genus, which is Rotylenchulus,
was determined. For soil health analysis, percentage of each nematode trophic group,
nematode richness (the total number of taxa per sample), and Simpson’s index of
diversity (Simpson, 1949) were calculated. Based on the life strategy of free-living
nematodes as a colonizer or persister (Bongers and Bongers, 1998), nematode fauna was
also analyzed by a weighting system for nematode functional guilds in relation to
enrichment and structure of the soil food web, and the proportion of fungivores to
bacterivores (Ferris et al., 2001). These indices were namely enrichment index (EI),
structure index (SI) and channel index (CI) (Ferris et al., 2001).

Assay for Soil Mesoarthropods

The soil samples collected for nematode analysis were also assayed for soil
mesoarthropods. Soil mites and collembola were extracted by Berlese-funnel apparatuses
(Edwards, 1991), identified to the lowest taxonomic level and their population densities
and diversity quantified.

Weed Data
Weed densities were recorded at the end of cover cropping and solarization, and at
1 and 2 months after pineapple planting using a Horsfall and Barrett (1945) scale where
1=0%, 2=0-3%, 3=3-6%, 4=6-12%, 5=12-25%, 6=25-50% of ground covered, 7=25-50%,
8=12-25%, 9=6-12%, 10=3-6%, 11=0-3%, and 12=0% of ground not covered.

Statistical Analysis
Weed densities, pineapple D-leaf weight, and numbers of reniform nematodes
from all sampling dates, and nematode community indices prior to pineapple planting
were subjected to orthogonal contrast analysis to compare SH vs. no SH, Sol vs. no Sol,
and SH+Sol vs. C. Nematode community indices such as richness, diversity, percentage
of each trophic group, MI, EI, SI, and CI are applicable as ecological measures of soil
condition across geographical regions (Neher et al., 1998; Neher, 1999; Ferris et al.,
2001). Thus, data of nematode community indices at 3 and 8 months after pineapple

223 
planting from the four treatments at Whitmore were combined with that from the Haleiwa
PP samples and were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using Proc
GLM (SAS Institute, Raleigh, NC).

RESULTS
Sunn hemp was able to grow at pH 5 after the soil was amended with agriculture
lime, but did not grow as well as those grown at a more neutral soil condition. At
termination of cover cropping, sunn hemp produced an average of 5.29 Mg/ha of wet
biomass. Solarization performed during spring-early summer in Hawaii generated
significant amounts of heat for both Sol and SH+Sol in the top soil layer (Table 1).
However, maximum temperature in the deeper soil layer did not reach the 42C lethal
temperature for reniform nematodes. The combination of SH and Sol attained more hours
of sublethal temperature for reniform nematodes in the deeper soil layer than Sol.

Weed Suppression
SH+Sol suppressed weeds more efficiently than SH or Sol alone. The percentage
of pineapple planting holes with weeds present was lower in SH+Sol than that in the
control at 2 or 3 MAP (P<0.05, Table 2). Weed densities continued to increase and were
not monitored after 3 months as weeds were managed chemically beginning at 3 months
after planting to maintain the integrity of pineapple growth.

Reniform Nematodes
Population densities of reniform nematodes at 3 MAP was significantly lower in
both SH treatments (SH and SH+Sol) as compared to no SH (C and Sol) treatments
(Fig. 1). At 8 MAP, although no significant difference was observed (P>0.05) among
treatments, the average number of reniform nematodes recovered from SH, SH+Sol and
Sol treatments was much lower than for the C treatment (Fig. 1).

Nematode Community Analysis

There was no difference in the percentage of nematode trophic groups found in the
SH and no SH treatments at the end of SH cover cropping (Pi2) and at the end of preplant
treatments (Pi3) (Fig. 2). SH had the highest percentage of omnivores at Pi3 but not
significantly more than the control (P>0.05) (Fig. 2D). The percentage of bacterivores
and fungivores was temporarily reduced in the Sol treatment as compared to no Sol at Pi3
(P<0.05, Fig. 2). Most of the effects of SH or Sol were not significant after pineapple
planting, but the control had significantly fewer (P>0.05) bacterivores and a higher
percentage of fungivores and herbivores at 3 MAP. Sol also reduced nematode richness,
EI and SI, but increased CI at Pi3 (Fig. 3). After pineapple planting, SH alone resulted in
higher (P<0.05) nematode richness than all the non-chemical treatments and PP (Fig. 3A)
and higher (P<0.05) diversity than PP at 8 MAP (Fig. 3B). All non-chemical treatments
had higher EI but lower CI than PP at 3 and 8 MAP (Fig. 3C,E). All non-chemical
treatments also had higher SI than PP at 3 MAP but only SH+Sol had higher (P<0.05) SI
than PP at 8 MAP.

Soil Mesoarthropods Analysis

At 4 months after SH cover cropping (Pi2), SH treatments had higher (P<0.05)
numbers of predatory and fungivorous soil mesoarthropods than did non-SH treatments
(Fig. 4). Sol reduced (P<0.05) the abundance of both trophic groups of soil
mesoarthropods at Pi3. In general, abundance of soil mesoarthropods in all the non-
chemical treatments decreased to levels not different from the C and PP at 8 MAP, except
for SH treatment where it maintained higher (P<0.05) numbers of predatory and
fungivorous mesoarthropods than the PP.

Pineapple Growth
D-leaf weight of pineapple was not different among treatments at 6 MAP.

224 
However, at 11 MAP, D-leaf weight of non-Sol treatments was significantly higher than
the Sol treatments (Table 3, P<0.05).

DISCUSSION
Heald and Robinson (1987) found that solarization treatments accumulated
sufficient heat units to kill plant-parasitic nematodes. Wang and McSorley (2008) also
reported that only 14 hours at 42C was required to kill root-knot nematodes. However,
soil temperatures below 10 cm in the Sol treatment in this experiment did not reach that
temperature. A minimum of 46 hours are required to kill juvenile stages of plant-parasitic
nematodes at 40C (Wang and McSorley, 2008). Thus, SH+Sol did not improve the
reniform nematode suppressive effect as compared to SH. Despite the fact that
solarization in this experiment did not suppress reniform nematode populations, SH+Sol
suppressed weed densities better than SH or Sol alone, and reduced weed pressure to 1/3
of the C for up to 3 months after pineapple planting. Three months of weed suppression is
too short of a time period for long-term crops such as pineapple. However, this effect
could reduce early season herbicide applications in pineapple crops.
Planting of SH (either SH or SH+Sol) maintained the population densities of
R. reniformis below the economic threshold level up to 3 months after pineapple planting
(1 reniform/g soil, i.e. ~250 reniform/250 cm3 soil). Nematode suppression in the SH
treatment dissipated by 8 MAP. Sunn hemp biomass obtained from this trial was only
5.29 t ha-1 wet biomass whereas Rotar and Joy (1983) state that up to 7 t ha-1 air-dry
organic matter can be obtained at 60 days when growing conditions are favorable. The
low productivity is assumed to be due to the low soil pH at Whitmore; Rotar and Joy
(1983) report that sunn hemp will grow in soil over a pH range of 5.0-7.5 but productivity
was highest at pH 6.0. Such a high pH would be detrimental to pineapple because it could
result in a much higher incidence of Phytophthora sp. root and heart rots. We anticipated
that earlier amendment of lime to the planting area would have allowed the SH cover crop
to produce more biomass, which might have been more effective in suppressing reniform
nematodes. The absence of differences in nematode suppression between SH alone and
SH+Sol is at variance with previous studies that showed that a cowpea cover crop with
solarization suppressed root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) better than did
solarization alone (Wang et al., 2006). It was assumed that wet organic residue
contributes to the heat generated by solarization. A slight increase in soil temperature was
measured in the soil layer from 5 to 15 cm in the SH+Sol but not in the Sol alone, but the
temperature in the deeper soil layer still did not reach the threshold required to suppress
nematode populations. Better reniform nematode suppression in the SH treatment than in
Sol alone could be due to reniform nematodes reverting to the anhydrobiotic (survival)
stage, where they are harder to kill (Tsai, 1978). SH is a poor host of reniform nematodes
(Wang et al., 2002), and could have caused some of the anhydrobiotic reniform
nematodes to become active, and thus make them more susceptible to the sunn hemp
allelopathic compounds. This hypothesis is worthy of testing for future improvement of
nematode management.
Despite some improvement in reniform nematode suppression by SH as compared
with C, this level of suppression was not as effective as plantation practice where post-
plant nematicides were applied at 3-month intervals after pineapple planting. Reniform
nematode numbers in the PP were <20/250 cm3 soil at 3 and 8 MAP in this study. More
research is needed on non-chemical nematode management after planting. The costs of a
sunn hemp crop followed by solarization are similar to those for soil fumigation with 1,3-
dichloropropene, which costs $ 1,296/ha. In Hawaii, sunn hemp is seeded at 33 kg ha-1 at
a cost of $ 222. Irrigation for sunn hemp for 3 months at 40,660 L ha-1 week-1 costs $ 74,
depending on the water source, while solarization mulch might cost $ 812/ha. Thus,
SH+Sol is a cost efficient alternative to soil fumigation for pineapple production in
Hawaii.
The results from the nematode community analysis and soil mesofauna assay
clearly documented that several soil fauna involved in soil nutrient cycling, including

225 
nematodes and soil mites, were negatively impacted by practices used in PP. Continuous
plantation practice for more than 80 years has resulted in a nematode community
dominated by few genera of bacterivorous nematodes, with significantly lower nematode
richness than all the other non-chemical treatments tested in this study. These analyses of
EI, SI and CI showed that PP resulted in a poor soil health condition. EI is closely
associated with N mineralization (Sánchez-Moreno et al., 2006) and the low EI in PP
indicated that the N mineralization potential was low. An SI of zero indicated that
omnivorous and predatory nematodes, which are very sensitive to soil disturbance
(Bongers and Bongers, 1998; Wardle et al., 2005) had disappeared. These two indices
meant that soil in PP was not only depleted in nutrient recycling, but was also highly
disturbed. The high CI in PP also indicated that soil in PP was dominated by fungal
decomposition, a stressful soil condition. These results are consistent with the soil health
analysis study of Sánchez-Moreno et al. (2006) that soil with low organic inputs followed
by heavy tillage often has a higher CI. In contrast, SH treatment had the highest richness
and percentage of omnivorous nematodes at the end of the pre-plant treatment (Pi3). High
abundance of other nutrient recyclers, particularly predatory and fungivorous soil
mesoarthropods in the SH treatment, which were low in PP, indicated that intensive soil
cultivation without incorporation of a green manure crop and regular pesticide application
reduced fungivorous and predatory mites even at 8 MAP. The results are consistent with
those reported by Sánchez-Moreno et al. (2009).
Our soil health analysis also showed that Sol temporary impacted beneficial
nematodes and soil mesoarthropods at the end of solarization practice. However,
disturbance of soil health by Sol did not last more than 3 months. Previously, Wang et al.
(2006) reported that integration of solarization with a green manure, cowpea (Vigna
unguiculata), reduced the negative impacts of soil solarization on the soil microbial
communities. Thus, we expected that integration of SH with Sol would reduce the impact
of Sol, but this effect was not obvious in this study. It is possible that this effect would
have been observed if sunn hemp produced more biomass. It is not clear why Sol
treatments would result in lower D-leaf weight at 11 MAP.
In conclusion, although SH, Sol or their combination did not suppress reniform
nematodes as effectively as the PP, SH reduced the initial population of reniform
nematodes compared to the weedy fallow control. Integration of SH and Sol suppressed
weed densities for the first 3 months after planting. These results indicated that SH+Sol
could reduce initial herbicide application. This research also documented that
conventional pineapple plantation practice in Hawaii severely disturbed communities of
free-living nematodes and soil mesoarthropods that are important for soil nutrient cycling.
The cost of SH+Sol is similar to that used for 1,3-dichloropropene fumigation. More
research should be conducted to demonstrate incorporating some of these non-chemical
approaches for nematode management in pineapple plantation practice.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thank Dole Food Company Hawaii and Elisazoe Eisenpress, and
Sharadchandra Marahatta for their assistance. This research was supported, in part by US
EPA region 9 Strategic Agriculture Initiative Program Project No. X8-00902501-0,
USDA NRCS, Pacific Islands Area, Conservation Innovation Grants Program (Contract
no: 69-9251-8-798), and Hatch project CRIS No. 0209059 administered by the College of
Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii.

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Tables

 
 
Table 1. Maximum temperature and hours of lethal or sublethal temperatures accumulated
for reniform nematode suppression over 2 months of a soil solarization period.

Maximum Hours of lethal Hours of sublethal

Soil depth
Treatment temperature (>42C) (40-42C)
(cm)
(C) temperature temperature
Fallow with 5 37.5 0 0
weeds control 25 30.5 0 0
5 55.0 174 46
Solarization 15 37.5 0 0
25 34.5 0 0
5 54.5 135 44
Sunn hemp +
15 41.0 0 10
Solarization
25 30.5 0 0

Table 2. Percent of pineapple planting holes with weeds present from 4 pre-plant
treatments.

Treatment 6 Aug. 2009 3 Sept. 2009

Control 9.22 a1 14.50 a
Sunn hemp 4.76 ab 9.08 a
Sunnhemp+Solarization 2.62 b 4.39 b
Solarization 5.54 ab 8.74 ab
1
Means are average of 4 replications. Means in a column followed by same letters are not significantly
different according to Waller-Duncan (k-ratio) t-test base on log (x+1) transformed values.

228 
Table 3. Pineapple plant growth estimated by D-leaf weight from 4 pre-plant treatments.

Treatment D-leaf weight (g)

Control (C) 19.721
Sunn hemp (SH) 18.84
Sunnhemp+Solarization (SH+Sol) 15.79
Solarization (Sol) 18.44
Contrast analysis P-value
SH vs. no SH 0.1138
Sol vs. no Sol 0.0454
SH vs. C 0.7925
1
Means are average of 40 leaves collected from 4 replicated plots.

Figures

2500
Contrast analysis
nematodes/250cm3 soil

2000 3 month 8 month

SH vs no SH * NS
No. reniform

1500 Sol vs no Sol NS NS

SHSol vs C NS NS

1000

500

0
C SH SH+Sol Sol

Fig. 1. Number of Rotylenchulus reniformis recovered from soil at 3 and 8 months after
pineapple planting from four pre-plant soil treatments: C=Weedy fallow control,
SH=Sunn hemp, SH+Sol=Sunn hemp+Solarization, and Sol=Solarization. Means
are average of 4 replications. Orthogonal contrast analysis was significant (*) or
not-significant (NS).

229 
 80 50 C
% Bacterivores a A % Herbivores a
70 Sol a
a 40 a
60
a
50 ab ab a
ab 30
ab
40 ab
%

%
C ab
30 SH b 20
b b
20 SH+Sol b b b
Sol b 10
10
PP
0 0
Pi1 Pi2 Pi3 3 8 Pi1 Pi2 Pi3 3 8

70 5 D
% Fungivores B
%Omnivores
60
4
50

40 3
Sol
%

SH+Sol
30 2
20
1
10

0 0
Pi1 Pi2 Pi3 3 8 Pi1 Pi2 Pi3 3 8

Fig. 2. Percentage of nematode trophic groups A) bacterivores, B) fungivores, C)

herbivores, and D) omnivores at initiation of cover croping (Pi1), 4 months after
sunn hemp cover cropping (Pi2), 2 months after solarization (Pi3), and at 3 and 8
months after pineapple planting. The legend in A corresponds to the preplant
treatments fallow with weed control (C), sunn hemp (SH), solarization (Sol), sunn
hemp followed by solarization (SH+Sol); PP data are for plantation practice in a
commercial field. Means are the average of 4 replications. Sol and SH+Sol above
data points at a sampling date indicate a significant orthogonal contrast (P<0.05)
exists between the treatments Sol vs. no Sol or SH+Sol vs. C. Means at each
sampling date followed by different letters are different (P<0.05) according to
Waller-Duncan k-ratio (k=100) t-test.

230 
 20 100
A EI Sol C
SH
SH+Sol a
Sol 80 a
Numbers of genera

15 a a a
a a
a a
Richness

60 a a
C a b

Index
10 C
a b
SH SH
b 40
SH+Sol SH+Sol
5 b b
Sol c 20 Sol b
PP PP
0 0
Pi1 Pi2 Pi3 3 8 Pi1 Pi2 Pi3 3 8

10 100
B SI Sol D
8 a 80 SH+Sol
a
SH a
a
6 60
Diversity

Index
ab b
4 40 b
b b
20 a
2
ab
ab
0 c b
0
b
Pi1 Pi2 Pi3 3 8 Pi1 Pi2 Pi3 3 8

100
CI a E
a
80
Sol
60 SH+Sol
Index

SH
40
b b
b b
20 b
b
b b
0
Pi1 Pi2 Pi3 3 8

Fig. 3. A) Nematode richness, B) Simpson’s (1949) index of diversity, and Ferris et al.
(2001) indices of C) enrichment (EI), D) structure (SI) and E) Channel (CI)
calculated at the initiation of cover cropping (Pi1), 4 months after sunn hemp
cover cropping (Pi2), 2 months after solarization (Pi3), and at 3 and 8 months after
pineapple planting. The legends in A and C correspond to the preplant treatments
fallow with weed control (C), sunn hemp (SH), solarization (Sol), sunn hemp
followed by solarization (SH+Sol); PP data are for plantation practice in a
commercial field. Means are the average of 4 replications. Sol or SH+Sol above
data points at a sampling date indicate a significant orthogonal contrast (P < 0.05)
exists between the treatments Sol vs. no Sol or SH+Sol vs. C. Means at each
sampling date followed by different letters are different (P<0.05) according to
Waller-Duncan k-ratio (k=100) t-test.

231 
 90 12
Predatory mites SH C A Fungivores SH B
80 Sol
SH 10
70 Sol
SH vs C
Numbers/100 g soil

Numbers/100 g soil
SH+Sol SH vs C
60 8
Sol
50 SH
PP 6
40
SH vs PP
30 4
20 SH vs PP
2
10
0 0
Pi2 Pi3 8 Pi2 Pi3 8

Fig. 4. A) Predatory mites, and B) fungivorous mesoarthropods (Oribatid mites,

collembola) extracted using Burlese funnels at 4 months after sunn hemp cover
cropping (Pi2), 2 months after solarization (Pi3), and at 8 months after pineapple
plantingIn A, the preplant treatments were: fallow with weed control (C), sunn
hemp (SH), solarization (Sol), sunn hemp followed by solarization (SH+Sol); PP is
plantation practice in a commercial field. Means are average of 4 replications. SH,
Sol, SH vs. C, and SH vs. PP above data points at each sampling date indicate a
significant orthogonal contrast (P<0.05) exists between SH vs. no SH, Sol vs. no
Sol, SH vs. C, and SH vs. PP, respectively.
 
 
 

232