Effect of potato used as a trap crop on potato cyst nematodes and other soil pathogens and on the growth of a subsequent main potato crop

Abstract

A field experiment in which main-crop potatoes were grown every other year was conducted on a sandy soil from 1994 to 1999. The aim of the experiment was to control soil-borne pathogens of potato with ecologically sound methods. Potato grown as a trap crop from the end of April to the end of June (8 wk) was used to control potato cyst nematodes (PCN) (Globodera pallida), and its effects on other important soil pathogens and on the growth of a subsequent potato crop were also assessed. Additional experimental treatments were a potato crop from which the haulm was removed and a green manure crop. Three potato cultivars with different degrees of resistance to PCN were grown as the main crop. Duplicate sets of the experiment were run concurrently.The PCN were effectively controlled by the potato trap crop. When a highly resistant potato cultivar was grown as a main crop after the trap crop, the post-harvest soil infestation was very low. When a moderately resistant cultivar was grown after the trap crop the soil infestation also remained low. When the trap crop was alternated with a susceptible potato cultivar as a main crop, soil infestation increased slightly, but the degree of control when compared with no trap crop averaged 96%.Soil infestation with root-knot nematodes (mainly Meloidogyne hapla) increased when potato was grown as a trap crop, but soil infestation with the root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus crenatus was not affected. Stem canker caused by Rhizoctonia solani was not affected by the trap crop but black scurf (sclerotia of R. solani) on tubers was reduced. Soil infestation with Verticillium dahliae declined in one of the duplicate sets of the experiment but not in the other. However, stem infections by ? ! dahliae were significantly decreased in both sets, although the effect depended on the PCN-resistance level of the potato cultivar. When a highly resistant potato cultivar was grown Verticillium stem infections were not significantly affected, they were decreased with a moderately resistant cultivar but the decrease was most pronounced with a PCN-susceptible cultivar.Senescence of a following potato crop was not influenced by the trap crop when a highly PCNresistant cultivar was grown, but it was delayed in the case of a moderately resistant or a susceptible cultivar, resulting in higher tuber yields for those cultivars.The experiment proved that a trap crop can be an alternative to chemical soil disinfection but, for several reasons, the potato itself is not an ideal crop for this purpose; a trap crop other than potato must be developed.

Effects of Crotalaria juncea and C. spectabilis on hatching and population density of the soybean cyst nematode, Heterodera glycines (Tylenchida: Heteroderidae)

“…For the beet cyst nematode (H. schachtii), such trap crops have been successfully developed and have been used practically (Koch and Gray, 1997;Sundararaj, 1998, 2000;Koch et al, 1998;Krall et al, 2000). For potato cyst nematodes (G. rostochiensis and G. pallida), cultivation of a susceptible or resistant potato cultivar as a trap crop has been demonstrated to reduce the population density of the nematode in soil (Lamondia and Brodie, 1986;Halford et al, 1999;Scholte, 2000a).…”

Effects of Cover Crops on Pratylenchus penetrans and the Nematode Community in Carrot Production

“…Cover crops can also serve as trap crops-crops that stimulate nematode hatch or activity but do not allow nematode reproduction (Scholte, 2000;Smith et al, 2004). The trap crop could be a nematode-resistant cultivar such as a resistant oilseed radish or mustard used to manage sugarbeet cyst nematode, Heterodera schachtii (Smith et al, 2004;Hafez and Sundararaj, 2009).…”

“…A nematode-susceptible cultivar terminated or removed before a nematode generation can be completed may serve as a trap crop such as growing potato trap crops for potato cyst nematode (Globodera spp.) management (Halford et al, 1999;Scholte, 2000). Some cover crops, particularly those in the Brassicaceae family, act as biofumigants (Wang et al, 2001;Matthiessen and Kirkegaard, 2006) because they contain compounds that are toxic to nematodes and other organisms (Gimsing and Kirkegaard, 2009;Oka, 2010).…”

Multimodel Inference for the Prediction of Disease Symptoms and Yield Loss of Potato in a Two-Year Crop Rotation Experiment

“…In the generalized linear models used in this study, the multimodel method also leads to improved estimates of parameters based on the weights of the different models. The study used data of an experiment by Scholte [2] on the application of trap crops to reduce the damage from potato cyst nematodes.…”