What is dangerous potato nematode

Potatoes are one of the most important crops grown on personal plots and agricultural land. Not always the reasons for low productivity lie in adverse weather conditions, improper care. Pests contribute no less to the deterioration of the quality characteristics of root crops. The insidious and worst enemy of nightshade cultures is the potato nematode, recognized as an object of internal and external quarantine.

Pest Description

Nematodes are an extensive group of worms, the varieties of which number in the hundreds of thousands of species. By species diversity they are second only to insects. Herbivorous parasites leave a large proportion. The most harmful and dangerous potato nematode is golden. Followed by a stem and gall. Each of the pests is distinguished by its characteristic features, localization and the harm caused.

Golden Potato Nematode

The parasite specializes exclusively in nightshade crops: tomatoes, potatoes, peppers. It lives in the ground, as a result of which the popular name "soil nematode" has taken root. It affects the root system of plants, which negatively affects their growth. In Europe, spread about 100 years ago as a result of the import of potatoes into Germany.

Nematodoses (diseases caused by parasites) of potatoes are recorded in 42 countries of the world. In Russia, the potato nematode was detected in 56 regions.

Due to its miniature size, it is impossible to see the worm with the naked eye. Visually demonstrates the appearance of a potato nematode photo. Larvae are white. Growing up, they acquire a characteristic golden color, for which they got their name. The oral cavity is represented by a piercing-sucking apparatus, which has some similarities with a spear. With its help, the worm attaches itself to the roots of plants, punctures tissues and absorbs nutritious juices.

Important! Golden potato nematode parasitizes on the roots of the plant, and not on its tubers.

Overwinter in the stage of cysts. This is the name of the shell of the female, in which the eggs and larvae are enclosed. Each cyst can have up to 200 embryos. During the growing season of the potato, the larvae leave the capsule, attach to the root system and begin to actively feed.

In the summer, if you carefully dig up the potato bush and shake off the soil from it, you can see the larvae of milky white color, tightly stuck around the roots.

Like insects, they undergo several molts, after which there is a division into female and male individuals. The sex ratio directly depends on weather conditions and the availability of food supply. Females need more enhanced nutrition compared to males. Males die off after mating. By autumn, the fertilized female acquires a spherical shape, a caramel shade and turns into a cyst of 0.5-0.6 mm in size. In regions with a warm climate, 2 generations of generation are possible per year.

Important! All the insidiousness and danger of the golden potato nematode lies in the resistance of cysts to the effects of the external environment: severe frosts, drought, floods, and the use of toxic chemicals. They can lie in the soil for up to 10 years and remain viable, and hatching of larvae can occur in stages over several years.

Damage to Golden Potato Nematode

At the first stages of infection, it is extremely difficult to identify the pest. The following signs indicate the appearance of a potato nematode:

• plants are far behind in growth;
• rapid death of the lower leaves;
• green mass prematurely fades and begins to turn yellow;
• stalks are curved;
• slight flowering or its complete absence;
• death of bushes, tubers of small size;
• the roots turn brown.

If randomly located areas with underdeveloped plants appear on the potato field, this can be a signal of a nematode dose. As a rule, symptoms become clearly visible 40-50 days after planting the tubers.

The danger to humans of the golden potato nematode is not in the infection of the person himself by eating root crops, but in a decrease in productivity, which can reach 80% and the absolute unsuitability of the site for planting nightshade crops for 10 years.

How does golden potato nematode spread and how to control it

Despite the fact that the nematode belongs to quarantine objects, its habitat is constantly expanding. Cysts from contaminated soil are carried:

• by the wind;
• on shoes, tools;
• with rainwater;
• with planting material.

Most often, the owners of the plots that plant potatoes in the same place every year suffer from parasites.

If signs of parasitic worms are detected, the question of how to deal with potato nematodes that have settled in the soil becomes relevant. Alas, even such a potent drug Tiazon can not completely eradicate the problem, because cysts are poorly susceptible to the effects of poisons. All activities are aimed at containing and reducing population growth:

1. After harvesting, the soil is sprinkled with lime in an even layer; during digging it is mixed with soil.
2. During the planting of tubers, a handful of ash mixed with 1 spoon of bird droppings and 3 handfuls of dry manure is added to each well.
3. To destroy the larvae after planting, you can cultivate the soil with a solution of bird droppings. For this, liquid chicken manure is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:20. For 1 square. m consumes from 5 to 10 liters of the finished solution.
4. In early spring, to stimulate the release of larvae from cysts, a tincture of potato sprouts is prepared. One kilogram of processes needs to be crushed, you can use a meat grinder, pour 10 liters of water and insist for a day. Urea is added to the soil, and then the finished solution (one bucket per 10 sq. M).
5. During the earthing up, mineral fertilizers are introduced into the aisles at a distance of 5-6 cm from the stems.

As a preventive measure, it is recommended to observe crop rotation and cultivate legumes or cereals after potatoes. Inventory must be disinfected and cleaned. Potato varieties resistant to the nematode can be planted:

• Aspia, Pomegranate;
• Pushkin, Lukyanovsky;
• Early Zhukovsky, Picasso, Frigate;
• Prolisok, Latona, Crystal;
• Belorussian, Karatop, Prior.

The development of stem nematodes on potatoes

For a long time, the pest was mistaken for stem onion nematode and only 60 years ago, differences between two related species were described. The parasite is ubiquitous, in almost all countries of the world.

This species of nematodes affects tubers during the growing season and during storage in vegetable stores. In addition to potatoes, it can parasitize on other crops: beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, legumes, pumpkins.The potato stem nematode is characterized by microscopic dimensions of 0.7-1.4 mm, a thin long and slightly curved milk-colored body. Larvae differ from their parents in smaller dimensions and an underdeveloped reproductive system.

Mostly infection occurs from the uterine tuber during the growing season. Nematode penetrates through the underground parts of the bush into the formed tubers. The possibility of a worm invading from contaminated soil, in which larvae from previous cultures remained, is not ruled out. The eggs of stem nematodes withstand low temperatures and do not die when freezing soil.

The larvae undergo 4 molting and become sexually mature individuals. A prolific female lays up to 250 eggs inside a tuber. At the optimum temperature regime of + 20-24 ° C, the development of one generation is from 20 to 25 days. The temperature range at which a female is capable of reproducing offspring is very wide: from + 3 ° C to 37 ° C. High humidity, rainy and damp weather favorably affect the development and reproduction of stem potato nematodes.

During the development of the bush, you can notice excessive "curly" plants, thickening of the stem. Signs of infection with parasites are most often detected after harvest:

• under the peel you can see white loose spots - places of accumulation of pests;
• subsequently, the skin wrinkles, dries out, easily separates from the pulp of the root crop;
• dark spots with a metallic luster appear on the tubers, which gradually increase in size;
• with severe infection, the peel exfoliates and cracks, and the contents of the fetus are a crumbling mass.

How to prevent infection with a stem nematode

The main damage is caused by the parasitic worm to potatoes. In vegetable stores, the yield loss reaches enormous proportions. Therefore, measures to combat the potato nematode should be taken when even several infected root crops or 25-30 larvae per 1 kg of soil are detected.

How to deal with a pest:

1. Only store healthy tubers for storage.
2. Maintain optimal humidity in the store.
3. Do not use contaminated material for planting.
4. Regular weed removal, application of mineral fertilizers during the growing season, burning of plant debris, deep digging of the soil after harvesting.
5. Alternate cultures, as in the land the nematode remains viable for several years.

On a note! Later varieties are less likely to be affected by stem nematodes than early maturing.

Gall nematode

The species of nematode affects plants both in open and in closed ground. Parasitizes on different types of crops, including potatoes. It is localized in the root system and in tubers. Females lay eggs directly in the roots. Of all types of potato nematodes, they lead in fertility - up to 2000 eggs, as a result of which neoplasms - galls - form on infected sites.

Damage blocks the flow of water and nutrients into the plant, which in turn leads to a lag in growth, development and, accordingly, affects productivity.

Control measures:

1. Crop rotation and crop rotation resistant to pest.
2. Soil treatment with steam or preparations from the Avermectin group, which are a double complex of biological components and chemical compounds.
3. Disinfection of planting stock, equipment.

The lack of moisture provokes the development of the population and the reproduction of gall nematodes, therefore, in dry years, their greatest distribution is recorded.