Winter wheat cv. Avalon was sown in autumn 1981, 1982 and 1983 on a clay loam soil following two cereal crops. Multifactorial experiments tested the effects of combinations of the following eight factors, each at two levels: rotation, sowing date, timing of nitrogen, amount of nitrogen, growth regulator, pesticide, spring fungicide and summer fungicide.The best 16-plot mean grain yields in 1982-4 were respectively 8-7, 10-2 and 11-1 t/ha. Rotation had the largest effect on grain yield. Wheat following barley was severely infected with take-all and yielded, on average over 3 years, 2-2 t/ha less than wheat following oats. Take-all was more severe on wheat sown in mid-September than in mid-October; its effects on yield were lessened by early timing of N in 1982. Take-all decreased growth and N uptake mainly after anthesis, and also number of ears and dry weight per grain. Sowing in mid-September compared with mid-October decreased yield of wheat after barley by an average of 0-8 t/ha because take-all was more severe. Early sowing had negligible effects on grain yield of wheat after oats, but increased straw dry weight by 1 • 1 t/ha. Spring fungioide increased yield by an average of 0-3 t/ha. Effects were larger after barley than after oats, associated with a greater incidence of eyespot after barley. Summer fungioide increased yield by an average of 0-3 t/ha. Foliar diseases were slight in all 3 years. Fusarium ear blight and sharp eyespot were prevalent in 1982 and were not well controlled by the fungioide treatments. Fungicide temporarily decreased the incidence of some components of the mioroflora on the ears. Pesticide increased grain yield of wheat after oats only in 1984, when aphids on the ears were numerous. Aphids were present on early-sown plots in all three autumns but there was little barley yellow dwarf virus infection even without pesticide. Pesticide always decreased the number of nematodes after harvest to fewer than present before sowing. Populations never approached levels expected to affect yield.Early N application (main application early March) resulted in a larger grain yield in 1982 than N applied a month later. In 1983 and 1984 grain yield and N uptake by the grain were greater with the late application, especially when wheat was sown early. The soil contained more mineral N in the autumn of 1982 and 1983 than in 1981. Straw weight was always greater with early than with late application. Increasing the amount of N applied from 163 to 223 kg/ha increased N uptake by 40 kg/ha and grain yield by 0-5 t/ha after oats and by 0-6 t/ha after barley. N uptake in grain plus straw by the best yielding crops ranged from 205 kg/ha in 1982 to 246 kg/ha in 1984.Chlormequat applied at the start of stem extension shortened the stems at maturity by 2 cm each year. In 1984 it inoreased yield of early-sown wheat by 0-3 t/ha and also decreased lodging, which did not occur in the first 2 years.

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SUMMARY The effects of the cereal cyst‐nematode, Heterodera auenae Woll. on resistant and susceptible oat cultivars, with and without aldicarb treatment, were compared on a clay‐with‐flints soil at Rothamsted and a loamy sand at Woburn. At both sites, when H. auenae was extremely scarce, yields were not further enhanced by aldicarb. At Rothamsted aldicarb increased yields by 48–72% when H. auenae averaged 10 eggs/g soil. At Woburn, aldicarb increased yields of both susceptible and resistant varieties by 80–90% with 20 eggs/g. The resistant varieties conferred yield benefits in the following oat crop equal to the residual effects of aldicarb applied before the previous crop, demonstrating that H. auenae was wholly responsible for the yield losses. Nematode resistant oats suffered as much or more damage from root invasion by H. auenae juveniles as the susceptible varieties but the resulting decrease in nematode numbers led to considerable yield improvements in the following year. At Woburn in 1977, when formalin was an added treatment, fewer females were infected by parasitic fungi and post‐crop egg numbers were greater.

The root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne triticoryzae, produces three kinds of unhatched second stage juveniles (J2): i) those that hatch freely in water, ii) those that require stimulus from rice root diffusate (RRD), and iii) those that do not hatch even in the presence of RRD. The proportion of these three types varies with generation, with the final generation produced on senescing plants having a large proportion of unhatched J2 of the third type, which is likely to equate with diapause. Dilution of RRD reduced its hatching activity and there is no evidence of the presence of inhibitors in the diffusate. The hatching response of M. triticoryzae may be modified additionally by the growing conditions: submergence of infected plants may have delayed hatch, possibly by causing anoxybiosis in unhatched J2, and thereby delayed the appearance of the second and third generations of the nematodes. Le nématode Meloidogyne triticoryzae produit trois types de juvéniles de 2ème stade (J2) non encore éclos: i) ceux qui éclosent d’eux-même dans l’eau; ii) ceux qui requièrent le stimulus produit par le diffusat radiculaire de riz (RRD); enfin iii) ceux qui n’éclosent pas même en présence de RRD. La proportion de ces trois types varie avec la génération du nématode, la dernière génération, produite sur un hôte sénescent, contenant une grande proportion de J2 non éclos de type 3, ce fait représentant l’équivalent d’une diapause. La dilution du RRD diminue l’éclosion et aucune évidence d’inhibiteurs n’a été relevée dans le diffusat. Chez M. triticoryzae l’éclosion peut de plus être modifiée par les conditions de croissance de l’hôte; ainsi la submersion des plants infestés peut retarder l’éclosion, l’anoxybiose ainsi induite affectant vraisemblablement les J2 non éclos et retardant de ce fait l’apparition des deuxième et troisième générations du nématode.

SUMMARYThe effects of aldicarb and benomyl on plant‐parasitic nematodes, vesicular arbuscular mycorrhiza and the growth of forage maize were measured in 1980—1982 in two field experiments at Woburn, Bedfordshire and in a pot experiment using loamy sand soil from the field site. The most numerous migratory nematode, Tylenchorhynchus dubius increased three to four‐fold during each season in untreated soil and was effectively controlled by aldicarb. Pratylenchus species were fewer but equally well controlled. The cereal cyst‐nematode (Heterodera avenae), a serious maize pathogen in Northern France, was relatively scarce in untreated roots and was further decreased by aldicarb treatment; post‐harvest H. avenae egg numbers were not affected by treatments; they declined equally because maize is such a poor host. Significant yield benefits (up to 37%) followed aldicarb treatment and were ascribed to nematode control in the absence of attribution to insect or other pests. Benomyl did not increase yields nor did it significantly affect the incidence of mycorrhiza.The results confirm that considerable losses of forage maize can be caused by nematodes in light soil and that aldicarb is an effective nematicide even at the rate of 1·7 kg a.i./ha.

No abstract

In sandy loam infested with golden potato cyst-nematode, Globodera rostochiensis, oxamyl at 5.6 kg a.i. ha-' incorporated in the top 15 cm of the soil just before planting potatoes greatly reduced nematode population increase on susceptible cv. Desiree grown six, seven or eight years after the last susceptible potato crop, but did not significantly increase tuber yields. In four-course and two-course rotations, oxamyl also controlled increase of G. rostochiensis and greatly increased yields of both cv. DCsiree and resistant cv. Maris Piper. Oxamyl maintained tuber yields in a four-course rotation at the same level as in a six to eight-course rotation. Decline of G . rostochiensis in the soil was much faster under barley in some twocourse rotations than under barley in four-course rotations.

Glyphosate, applied early or later or twice to genetically modified glyphosate-tolerant sugar beet, gave excellent control of planted 'volunteer' potatoes growing within the crop compared to conventional herbicide programmes with or without clopyralid. In three out of four trials, this resulted in significant reductions in the numbers of eggs and cysts of potato cyst nematodes (Globodera rostochiensis and G. pallida) where infestations were moderate (23-89 eggs g-' soil). In the fourth trial, which had very high initial populations (130 eggs g-' soil), none of the herbicide treatments had any significant effect on numbers of nematode eggs or cysts. This was probably due to competition for feeding sites, and the early death of the potatoes in all treatments caused by feeding damage by the nematodes and infection by blight, which prevented the nematodes from completing their life cycle. Glyphosate also significantly reduced the number and size of daughter tubers produced, thus helping to prevent a further volunteer problem in the next crop in the rotation. This was achieved by one or two applications of one chemical compared to 2-5 applications of cocktails of conventional herbicides.