Fumigation of marine clay soils infested with Globodera pallida and G. rostochiensis using 1,3-dichloropropene and additional top soil treatments

Three fields of marine clay soil were fumigated with 150 l/ha 1,3-dichloropropene (DD) (Telone II(TM), Shell 95(TM)). On three dates after application, concentrations of Z- and E-1,3-dichloropropene were measured per 5 cm layer of soil to a depth of 40 cm and integrals of concentration time products were calculated. When the fumigant was no longer detectable, a top soil treatment with either 150 l/ha metam-sodium or 180 kg/ha dazomet (active compound methyl isothiocyanate) was applied, followed immediately by autumn ploughing. Soil samples were taken before and after fumigation and after the top soil treatment to extract potato cyst nematodes (PCN). Survival was determined from hatching tests. Mortality after the DD treatment, defined as the complement of the percentage of survival, was estimated for each 5 cm layer of soil to a depth of 30 cm to construct dosage response curves. Fumigation with DD killed 48, 48, and 72% of the PCN per field, respectively. Accelerated breakdown of DD by micro-organisms accounted for the two lower mortality rates. The additional top soil treatment with metam-sodium increased mortality to 90% or more. Dazomet, however, was less effective (53 and 80%) considering that twice as much of the active compound was applied as in the metam-sodium treatment. Multiplication, in pot experiments, of hatched juveniles originating from the injection layer after the DD treatment was 25% less than that of those from untreated plots. This was caused by a lower fraction of juveniles developing into cysts. PCN could be retrieved from soil layers as deep as 80 cm below the surface. Fumigation reached only a fraction of the infested soil, down to 25-30 cm. The infestation foci were so small compared to the standard minimum area fumigated (1 ha) that 90% of the active compound would be wasted on non-infested soil. Soil fumigation, whether or not combined with an additional top soil treatment, will seldom be profitable. Monitoring for infestation loci is recommended.