Chemical alternatives to methyl bromide for the control of root‐knot nematodes in greenhouses

Abstract

The complete phase-out of methyl bromide from use in developed countries by 1 January 2005 will cause many problems in agricultural industries that are now heavily reliant on its use. Three field experiments were established to compare management tactics on tomato and cucumber in commercial greenhouses naturally infested with root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp). Reduction of nematode juveniles in soil and roots to nil detection levels was observed in all plots following soil fumigation with methyl bromide. A significant reduction of nematode juveniles and root-galling index was observed in plots treated with metham-sodium, dazomet and 1,3-dichloropropene compared with the control and plots treated with non-fumigant nematicides. Reduction of the nematode population led to an increase in fruit yield. However, data collected from the second cultivation season indicated that single control methods such as fumigant or contact nematicides alone cannot drastically decrease initial nematode population and those nematodes which escape control lead to population increase by the end of the cropping season.

Efficacy of a formulated product containing Quillaja saponaria plant extracts for the control of root-knot nematodes

“…Crops cultivated in plastic houses in Greece, such as cucumber and tomato, suffer from RKN and after the withdrawal of methyl bromide (MB), several other control methods have been investigated as possible alternative solutions. Although the use of other chemicals, mainly soil fumigants and in a lesser extent non-fumigants (Giannakou and Karpouzas 2003;Giannakou et al 2002; have replaced the gap created by MB removal, much concern about their use has directed research to finding environmentally friendly methods of nematode control. There are many fungi which act as female and egg parasites to root-knot nematodes with the best known of them being different species of Pochonia and Paecilomyces.…”

Blind and naïve classification of toxicity by fish chromatophores

“…The major breakdown product of metham sodium is methylisothiocyanate (MITC), which can cause skin, eye and respiratory irritation and also has potential as both a chemical warfare and terrorism agent. Animal studies suggest a potential for immunological, developmental, carcinogenic and atherogenic effects (Burgess et al, 2000;Giannakou et al, 2002). Metham sodium induced a strong direct effect on fish chromatophores, a strong and irrecoverable aggregation achieving a 35% change in optical density after 15 min (Fig.…”

AFLP and SRAP markers linked to the mj gene for root-knot nematode resistance in cucumber

“…Although successful nematode controls have been reported in cucumber using soil fumigants and contactsystemic nematicides (Giannakou et al, 2002;Giannakou and Karpouzas, 2003;Gilreath et al, 2004) and more environmentally friendly compounds like essential oils extracted from aromatic plants (Oka et al, 2000), dry mycelium of Penicillium chrysogenum, a waste product of the pharmacological industry (Gotlieb et al, 2003), or extracts of Inula viscose, a perennial plant that is widely distributed in Mediterranean countries (Oka et al, 2006), deployment of resistance gene is by far the most economical alternative. Hence, AFLP and SRAP-SCAR markers were used to develop molecular markers to mj gene.…”