ISHS Acta Horticulturae 1270: IX International Symposium on Soil and Substrate Disinfestation
Dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) is successful to control nutsedge (Cyperus spp.) in Europe |
| Authors: | B. Pitrel, M. Chianella, W. Saathof, P. van de Griend, A. Santori, P. Sunder, A. Myrta |
| Keywords: | soil fumigants, Paladin/Accolade, strawberry nurseries, CleanStart |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.2020.1270.27 |
| Abstract:
Yellow nutsedge (C. esculentus), listed in EPPO list of invasive alien plants in 2004, is now a major concern in many agricultural areas of Europe. Growers and nurserymen are seeking effective solutions to control yellow nutsedge. For this reason, seven field trials were carried out during 2015-2017 in open field production(3 in Italy, 2 in the Netherlands and 2 in France), with dimethyl disulfide (DMDS; 99.1%) applied by shank injection to control nutsedge. The trials were in sandy soils, with high infestation levels of C. esculentus, up to 800 plants m-2 (Normandy, France). DMDS was applied at the rate of 400 kg a.i. ha-1 versus the market standard metam sodium (MS) at 153 kg a.i. ha-1 and a combined application of DMDS + MS (400 + 153 kg ha-1) compared to untreated control. The soil was covered with totally impermeable film (TIF) after fumigation with DMDS and uncovered 2-4 weeks later. The number of yellow nutsedge m-2 or/and the surface covered by the weed (%) were recorded in the trials. All fumigant treatments significantly reduced the presence of yellow nutsedge after application in comparison to the untreated control. Considering the average of all trials, DMDS alone achieved the highest efficacy level (average of 95.9% over 7 trials), together with the joint application DMDS + MS (95.2% over 6 trials), is better than the market standard MS (average of 72.4% over 4 trails). In the presence of extremely high nutsedge populations, the combined application of DMDS + MS gave better control than DMDS alone and improved control of other weed species. Therefore, DMDS, when registered in the EU, will be a new effective solution to control Cyperus spp. in many field crops and nurseries. | |
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