Harry A.J. Hoitink

WARNING! Sewage sludge is toxic. Food should not be grown in "biosolids." Join the Food Rights Network.

Harry A.J. Hoitink is an advisor to Garick LLC.

"Dr. Harry A. J. Hoitink was appointed as Professor Emeritus in the Department of Plant Pathology at The Ohio State University on January 1, 2004. He began his career as an Assistant Professor in Plant Pathology and Environmental Sciences in the late sixties with the discovery that potting mixes amended with composted bark release natural fungicides with activity against the most important root diseases of plants. He retired as Professor after 37 years of service at OSU in post-graduate education. More than 50 post-graduate students and visiting scientists studied in his group.

"In cooperation with industry, Dr. Hoitink developed procedures for composting of bark from various tree species and for formulation of potting media with these materials that replaced pesticides and produced healthy plants. This new technology was adopted world wide by the bark processing and nursery industries. He chaired a joint university/US-EPA/industry research team that developed optimum process parameters for the destruction of fecal pathogens and parasites during composting of sewage sludge. This work forms the basis for the US-EPA 503 Regulations that govern in-vessel composting of sewage sludge. (Please note that the testing for this research was performed in the in-vessel composting system at the Paygro facility in South Charleston, Ohio.) (emphasis added)

"With his graduate and post-doctoral students, he unraveled mechanisms of biological control of plant diseases in compost-amended substrates. He characterized and patented the use of beneficial microorganisms in composts that suppress plant pathogens and showed more recently that some also induce resistance in plants to disease. Dr. Hoitink’s group proved for the first time that soils amended with composts modify the biochemistry of the plant so that they resist disease, which proved the old concept “healthy soils make healthy plants”. Most of his research was funded by the competitive grants programs from the USDA, US-EPA and the US State Department. Much of his work was international in nature.

"Dr. Hoitink served the Ohio and US composting industries for many years in the development of compost quality standards, and is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences. He organized and chaired two international symposia on the science and engineering of composting and compost utilization. Presently he is co-editing a third book. Dr. Hoitink has won numerous awards, including the Ruth Allen Award from the American Phytopathological Society, the highest such award given by this society, for introducing a fundamentally new approach to disease control, and the ”Excellence in Research in Solid Waste Management through Composting” Award from the US-EPA for his contributions to the US-EPA 503 Regulations. As professor emeritus, he continues his research, which now focuses on the development of sustainable manure management practices though composting and utilization of these by products."

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