Late summer potatoes as a catch crop to control Potato Cyst Nematodes

摘要

In the Netherlands, the use of potatoes as a catch crop is an official measure to control potato cyst nematodes (PCN). At the moment this method is only permitted in spring. This is based on the assumption that in the second half of summer dormancy could prevent hatching, making the method ineffective. We conducted a greenhouse experiment in 2017 and a mesocosm experiment in 2018 during late summer to measure efficacy of late catch crops. In 2018 at two locations three Globoderapallida populations where exposed to a catch crop planted at three different dates. The plants were killed after 40 days with the herbicide glyphosate. These late summer applications showed to be very effective diminishing the population levels 50-96%. One (virulent) population multiplied on the resistant Arsenal, indicating that 40 days is too long. Applied field research and a search for an alternative for glyphosate is recommended.