Efficacy of a Soil Disinfection Machine for Fumigants to Clover Cyst Nematode

Clover cyst nematode, Heterodera trifolii, is one of the most important plant-parasitic nematode on Kimchicabbage in highland in Korea. Recently, a demand of soil disinfection machine for fumigants is increasing. This study was conducted to assess the control effects of a newly developed prototype soil disinfection machine to the cyst nematode. Two fumigants, dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) and metam sodium (MNa), were treated using the machine in a field, which was infected with the cyst nematode. After 4 weeks, control effects of fumigants were assessed as eggs hatching rates inside of cysts extracted from the soil, and as a number of females reproduced in roots of Kimchi-cabbage. DMDS (39 l/10 a) suppressed over 99.0% of the eggs hatching rate and the number of females reproduced. On the other hand, MNa (29 l/10 a) controlled the egg hatching rates from minimum 78.3% to maximum 99.4%, and the number of females from 34.7% to 49.3%. The control effects of two fumigants to clover cyst nematode by treated depth were no significant differences statistically. These results showed that DMDS treatment using the soil disinfection machine was expected to have the control effects for the clover cyst nematode.