05/22/07 PCN eradication program underway

The US Department of Agriculture is treating some eastern Idaho potato fields to rid them of the potato cyst nematode. Last week nearly one thousand acres were treated with a pesticide and covered with a layer of plastic to create heat that will wipe out the microscopic worms that feed on the roots of potato plants. Idaho State Department of Agriculture's Mike Cooper says this is not a short term, quick eradication program. COOPER "Ideally like to do a spring and fall eradication fumigations and keep cover crops on everything. We're looking at at least, I'm thinking, six to eight years of hard work on this program." The female nematode at maturity can swell up to pinhead side, cling to the roots and carry as many as 400 eggs. Even though she dies, the cyst containing the eggs can remain in the soil and the microscopic nematodes can later emerge when new potatoes are planted. The eggs can hatch at different times and some experts say the eggs can remain for years, maybe even decades. Last month US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns approved nearly eleven million dollars in emergency money to be used on seven quarantined fields near Shelley. Thousands of soil samples were tested in Idaho last year and more of the same is coming this year. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott