Research topic 4: Pest Management
Trial number 04-SEQ-02 and 04-NQ-03
Soil fumigation is often used where high-value agricultural and horticultural crops are grown in long-term monoculture. Soil fumigants provide benefits to growers in managing a wide range of pests and diseases, including nematodes, fungi, bacteria, insects, and weeds.
Soil fumigation is used as a pre-plant chemical treatment of soil, using a pesticide product that converts to a volatile gas. The chemical compounds used in soil fumigation have low boiling points and high vapor pressures enabling them to diffuse through open pore spaces through the soil profile.
Soil fumigation can temporarily increase plant growth and yield. In the case of major pineapple pests such as nematodes, the cysts and juveniles are almost never completely eradicated from a field by fumigation, and a small population left over after fumigation can build up rapidly. Additionally, the cost of fumigation per hectare is very high and identifying crop benefits and pest efficacy is critical in determining economic viability.
OBJECTIVE
- To compare the effectiveness of new and existing fumigants for improving yields, especially in the ratoon.
- To observe the efficacy of fumigation on the full range of soil borne pineapple pests and diseases.
- To undertake a cost analysis of the different fumigants.
