scholarly journals Status of Chemical Alternatives to Methyl Bromide for Pre-Plant Fumigation of Soil

2002 ◽  
Vol 92 (12) ◽  
pp. 1337-1343 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Duniway

None of the chemical alternatives currently registered and available has the full spectrum of activity and versatility of methyl bromide as a pre-plant soil fumigant. Chloropicrin and 1,3-dichloropropene (Telone) can provide significant control of many plant pathogens in soil and growth stimulation in annual crops. These compounds, however, provide limited control of weeds or other residual plant materials in soil of concern in nursery production systems, and some perennial replant diseases. Methyl isothiocyanate generators such as metam sodium have broad biocidal activity in soil, but are more difficult to apply effectively. In most soil applications, the available alternatives are likely to be used in combinations, either as mixtures (e.g., 1,3-dichloropropene and chloropicrin) or sequentially (e.g., chloropicrin followed by metam sodium). They may also be supplemented with other more specific pesticides and cultural controls. Among the alternatives currently under active development but not yet available, methyl iodide and propargyl bromide probably have activity that most closely parallels that of methyl bromide in soil. However, all of the chemical alternatives to methyl bromide will be subject to continuing review and more regulation. Furthermore, we do not know the actual prospects for registration of the new fumigants currently under development and there is a risk that registered fumigants will not be available for large-scale use in soil indefinitely.

1997 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 250-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. O. Chellemi ◽  
S. M. Olson ◽  
D. J. Mitchell ◽  
I. Secker ◽  
R. McSorley

Soil solarization was shown to be cost effective, compatible with other pest management tactics, readily integrated into standard production systems, and a valid alternative to preplant fumigation with methyl bromide under the tested conditions. Solarization using clear, photoselective, or gas-impermeable plastic was evaluated in combination with metham sodium, 1,3-dichloropropene + chloropicrin, methyl bromide + chloropicrin, pebulate, or cabbage residue. Strip solarization, applied to 20-cm-high, 0.9-m-wide beds, was conducted to achieve compatibility with standard production practices and resulted in soil temperatures 2 to 4°C above those temperatures resulting when using conventional flatbed solarization. Soil temperatures were 1 to 2°C higher at the edges of the raised beds, eliminating any border effects associated with solarization. Following a 40- to 55-day solarization period, the plastic was painted white and used as a production mulch for a subsequent tomato crop. The incidence of Southern blight and the density of Paratrichodorus minor and Criconemella spp. were lower (P < 0.05) in solarized plots. No differences (P < 0.05) in the incidence of Fusarium wilt and the density of nutsedge and Helicotylenchus spp. were observed between plots receiving solarization and plots fumigated with a mixture of methyl bromide + chloropicrin. The severity of root galling was lower (P < 0.05) when soil solarization was combined with 1,3-dichloropropene + chloropicrin (16.2 + 3.4 g/m2) and a gas-impermeable film. The incidence of bacterial wilt was not affected by soil treatments. Marketable yields in plots using various combinations of soil solarization and other tactics were similar (P < 0.05) to yields obtained in plots fumigated with methyl bromide + chloropicrin. The results were validated in several large scale field experiments conducted by commercial growers.


HortScience ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 839-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas V. Shaw ◽  
Kirk D. Larson

Yield for annual California strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa Duch.) production systems in soils treated with combinations of methyl bromide–chloropicrin (MB:CP) were compared with four alternative soil treatment systems using meta-analysis. Studies represent 11 production seasons, and were conducted at three distinct locations in California. Fumigation with mixtures of methyl bromide (MB) and chloropicrin (CP) increased yield significantly compared with any and all alternatives lacking MB. In a combined analysis of 45 studies, fumigation with MB:CP compounds increased yield an average of 94.4% (d+ = 2.874 ± 0.098) compared with yields for plants in nonfumigated (NF) soils. Further, the effect of MB:CP fumigation increased over the first three strawberry cultivation cycles: MB:CP–fumigated soils provided a 59.2% (d+ = 2.166 ± 0.146) yield advantage when one cycle of fumigation was omitted, a 100.2% (d+ = 3.000 ± 0.143) advantage when two cycles were omitted, and a 148.4% (d+ = 6.201 ± 0.348) yield advantage when three or more cycles of MB:CP were omitted. In a combined analysis that included 34 studies, soil fumigation with MB:CP conferred a 9.6% (d+ = 0.751 ± 0.087) yield advantage over fumigation with CP alone. Soils treated with MB:CP yielded 6.8% (d+ = 0.437 ± 0.114) more fruit than those treated with very high rates of CP (336–396 kg·ha–1), and 15.4% (d+ = 1.190 ± 0.134) more than soils treated with commercially realistic rates (168–224 kg·ha–1). Similar to the comparison using NF soils, the efficacy of very high rates of CP appeared to diminish over cycles of strawberry cultivation; MB:CP increased yield 2.2% (d+ = 0.043 ± 0.162) in the first CP production cycle, 10.6% (d+ = 0.588 ± 0.174) and 13.7% (d+ = 2.054 ± 0.401) in the following two cycles. Combinations of dichloropropene (DP) and CP were no more effective than were lower rates of CP alone, and MB:CP conferred a 14.4% (d+ = 0.962 ± 0.162) yield advantage over mixtures of DP:CP. Mixtures of MB:CP increased yield 29.8% (d+ = 3.199 ± 0.287) compared with metam sodium (MS). The standardized effect was similar when comparing MB:CP combinations with either MS or NF soils, suggesting little effect of MS on the yield response. Chemical names used: trichloronitromethane (chloropicrin); 1,3-dichloropropene (dichloropropene); sodium N-methyldithiocarbamate (metam sodium).


HortScience ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 525b-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.J. Locascio ◽  
D.W. Dickson

In past work, dichloropropene + 17% Pic (1,3-D + Pic) at 327 L·ha–1 plus pebulate provided good control of nematode, soil fungi, and nutsedge in mulched tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) and is considered the best alternative for methyl bromide (MBr) + chloropicrin (Pic), which is scheduled for phase-out in the United States by Jan. 2001. Metam-sodium did not provide acceptable pest control. In the present study, metam-Na (295 L·ha–1 combined with Pic (168 kg·ha–1) + 4.5 kg·ha–1 pebulate, and 1,3-D + 35% Pic at 168 and 225 L·ha–1 + pebulate were compared to MBr-Pic (98-2% at 345 kg·ha–1 and 67-33% at 505 kg·ha–1). Fumigants were injected into the bed except metam-Na and pebulate were surface-applied and incorporated and drip tubing and mulch were applied. Marketable yields with MBr-Pic, 225 L·ha–1 1,3-D + Pic, and metam-Na + Pic were higher than with the check. Yields with metam-Na alone or with additional water before transplanting were similar to the check. Nutsedge was controlled with MBr-Pic and all treatments with pebulate. Nematode root-gall ratings were high on tomato grown without fumigants (8.9 rating on a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 = no galling), low with MBr-Pic (0.33), and intermediate with all other treatments (2.2 to 5.5) except with 168 L·ha–1 1-3-D + Pic (8.3). This study indicates that metam-Na + Pic + pebulate also is a possible alternative to MBr-Pic for tomato.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oskar Englund ◽  
Pål Börjesson ◽  
Blas Mola-Yudego ◽  
Göran Berndes ◽  
Ioannis Dimitriou ◽  
...  

AbstractWithin the scope of the new Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, in coherence with other EU policies, new incentives are developed for farmers to deploy practices that are beneficial for climate, water, soil, air, and biodiversity. Such practices include establishment of multifunctional biomass production systems, designed to reduce environmental impacts while providing biomass for food, feed, bioenergy, and other biobased products. Here, we model three scenarios of large-scale deployment for two such systems, riparian buffers and windbreaks, across over 81,000 landscapes in Europe, and quantify the corresponding areas, biomass output, and environmental benefits. The results show that these systems can effectively reduce nitrogen emissions to water and soil loss by wind erosion, while simultaneously providing substantial environmental co-benefits, having limited negative effects on current agricultural production. This kind of beneficial land-use change using strategic perennialization is important for meeting environmental objectives while advancing towards a sustainable bioeconomy.


2008 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 71-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.A. Woolliams ◽  
O. Matika ◽  
J. Pattison

SummaryLivestock production faces major challenges through the coincidence of major drivers of change, some with conflicting directions. These are:1. An unprecedented global change in demands for traditional livestock products such as meat, milk and eggs.2. Large changes in the demographic and regional distribution of these demands.3. The need to reduce poverty in rural communities by providing sustainable livelihoods.4. The possible emergence of new agricultural outputs such as bio-fuels making a significant impact upon traditional production systems.5. A growing awareness of the need to reduce the environmental impact of livestock production.6. The uncertainty in the scale and impact of climate change. This paper explores these challenges from a scientific perspective in the face of the large-scale and selective erosion of our animal genetic resources, and concludes thai there is a stronger and more urgent need than ever before to secure the livestock genetic resources available to humankind through a comprehensive global conservation programme.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Kalyebi ◽  
Sarina Macfadyen ◽  
Andrew Hulthen ◽  
Patrick Ocitti ◽  
Frances Jacomb ◽  
...  

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), an important commercial and food security crop in East and Central Africa, continues to be adversely affected by the whitefly Bemisia tabaci. In Uganda, changes in smallholder farming landscapes due to crop rotations can impact pest populations but how these changes affect pest outbreak risk is unknown. We investigated how seasonal changes in land-use have affected B. tabaci population dynamics and its parasitoids. We used a large-scale field experiment to standardize the focal field in terms of cassava age and cultivar, then measured how Bemisia populations responded to surrounding land-use change. Bemisia tabaci Sub-Saharan Africa 1 (SSA1) was identified using molecular diagnostics as the most prevalent species and the same species was also found on surrounding soybean, groundnut, and sesame crops. We found that an increase in the area of cassava in the 3–7-month age range in the landscape resulted in an increase in the abundance of the B. tabaci SSA1 on cassava. There was a negative relationship between the extent of non-crop vegetation in the landscape and parasitism of nymphs suggesting that these parasitoids do not rely on resources in the non-crop patches. The highest abundance of B. tabaci SSA1 nymphs in cassava fields occurred at times when landscapes had large areas of weeds, low to moderate areas of maize, and low areas of banana. Our results can guide the development of land-use strategies that smallholder farmers can employ to manage these pests.


Plant Disease ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 469-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Gamliel ◽  
A. Grinstein ◽  
Y. Peretz ◽  
L. Klein ◽  
A. Nachmias ◽  
...  

The use of gas-impermeable films to reduce the dosage of methyl bromide (MB) required to control Verticillium wilt in potatoes was examined in field experiments, conducted in soils naturally infested with Verticillium dahliae. The incidence and severity of Verticillium wilt were significantly reduced (by 74 to 94%) by fumigation with MB at 50 g/m2 under standard low density polyethylene (LDPE) or at 25 g/m2 under gas-impermeable films. Fumigation at 25 g/m2 under LDPE was less effective. Disease severity was inversely correlated (r2 = 0.89 to 0.91) with chlorophyll content in the leaves. Fumigation also reduced (by 89 to 100%) stem colonization by the pathogen. Potato yield in the fumigated plots was significantly higher (26 to 69%), than in their nonfumigated counterparts, and was inversely correlated with disease index (r2 = 0.69 to 0.9). The percentage of high-value tubers (above 45 g) was 52 to 56% of total yield in the fumigated plots as compared with 32 to 40% in the nonfumigated controls. Thus, fumigation also improved the commercial quality of tuber yield. Effective control of V. dahliae and yield increases following MB fumigation at the recommended dosage or at a reduced dosage with gas-impermeable films was also observed in a consecutive crop. These results were verified in a large-scale field experiment using commercial applications, further demonstrating the feasibility of reducing MB dosages under farm conditions, without reducing its effectiveness in terms of disease control and yield improvement.


2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 539-548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inge M. Hanssen ◽  
Moshe Lapidot ◽  
Bart P. H. J. Thomma

Viral diseases are an important limiting factor in many crop production systems. Because antiviral products are not available, control strategies rely on genetic resistance or hygienic measures to prevent viral diseases, or on eradication of diseased crops to control such diseases. Increasing international travel and trade of plant materials enhances the risk of introducing new viruses and their vectors into production systems. In addition, changing climate conditions can contribute to a successful spread of newly introduced viruses or their vectors and establishment of these organisms in areas that were previously unfavorable. Tomato is economically the most important vegetable crop worldwide and many viruses infecting tomato have been described, while new viral diseases keep emerging. Pepino mosaic virus is a rapidly emerging virus which has established itself as one of the most important viral diseases in tomato production worldwide over recent years. Begomovirus species and other whitefly-transmitted viruses are invading into new areas, and several recently described new viruses such as Tomato torrado virus and new Tospovirus species are rapidly spreading over large geographic areas. In this article, emerging viruses of tomato crops are discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-35
Author(s):  
Juncheng Yang ◽  
Yao Yue ◽  
K. V. Rashmi

Modern web services use in-memory caching extensively to increase throughput and reduce latency. There have been several workload analyses of production systems that have fueled research in improving the effectiveness of in-memory caching systems. However, the coverage is still sparse considering the wide spectrum of industrial cache use cases. In this work, we significantly further the understanding of real-world cache workloads by collecting production traces from 153 in-memory cache clusters at Twitter, sifting through over 80 TB of data, and sometimes interpreting the workloads in the context of the business logic behind them. We perform a comprehensive analysis to characterize cache workloads based on traffic pattern, time-to-live (TTL), popularity distribution, and size distribution. A fine-grained view of different workloads uncover the diversity of use cases: many are far more write-heavy or more skewed than previously shown and some display unique temporal patterns. We also observe that TTL is an important and sometimes defining parameter of cache working sets. Our simulations show that ideal replacement strategy in production caches can be surprising, for example, FIFO works the best for a large number of workloads.


2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Brewer ◽  
Frank B. Peairs ◽  
Norman C. Elliott

Aphid invasions of North American cereal crops generally have started with colonization of a new region or crop, followed by range expansion and outbreaks that vary in frequency and scale owing to geographically variable influences. To improve understanding of this process and management, we compare the invasion ecology of and management response to three cereal aphids: sugarcane aphid, Russian wheat aphid, and greenbug. The region exploited is determined primarily by climate and host plant availability. Once an area is permanently or annually colonized, outbreak intensity is also affected by natural enemies and managed inputs, such as aphid-resistant cultivars and insecticides. Over time, increases in natural enemy abundance and diversity, improved compatibility among management tactics, and limited threshold-based insecticide use have likely increased resilience of aphid regulation. Application of pest management foundational practices followed by a focus on compatible strategies are relevant worldwide. Area-wide pest management is most appropriate to large-scale cereal production systems, as exemplified in the Great Plains of North America.


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