ADVERTISER CONTENT
CHLOROPICRIN is a soil fumigant that has been used commercially for more than 100 years.
It has registrations in more than 30 countries, with new countries adding to that list.
It is well recognised as an effective soil disinfestation tool, critical to high value horticulture, where crop loss due to soil pests is significant.
Because of its documented and favourable effects on soil health, its lack of residues, or soil contamination issues, we continue to see chloropicrin used as a safe and effective pre-plant soil treatment.
It is known that other soil disinfestation treatments have a broader biocidal effect than chloropicrin, and are more detrimental to some key beneficial organisms.
RELATED READING
Significant other benefits following an application of chloropicrin have been long observed and have for the most part remained less understood.
In addition to reducing the populations of soil pests including pathogenic fungi, nematodes, and insects, chloropicrin stimulates the proliferation of beneficial soil microbes in the weeks and months following treatment.
This includes Trichoderma spp., and root colonizing pseudomonads. In addition, chloropicrin does not negatively affect the populations of ectomycorrhizae.
Following soil fumigation with chloropicrin, the levels of essential plant nutrients are increased.
This is caused by the initial breakdown and decaying of soil microflora cells.
A subsequent proliferation of saprophytic organisms feeding on the decaying matter in the treated soil occurs.
This is the phenomenon of competitive exclusion.
This phenomenon illustrates an important concept in soil microbiology: competitive exclusion; whereby an organism exploits the soil environment at the expense of other, competing organisms.
One of the key impacts of chloropicrin on soil health is that Trichoderma spp. and other competitive saprophytes return within days or weeks following fumigation, often with visible fungal blooms.
This is a key shift in soil microflora because Trichoderma spp., have been identified as beneficial soil fungi and root colonizers which exclude or delay the return of plant pathogens.
Chloropicrin has a positive and measurable impact on soil microbial health due to the proliferation of beneficial soil/plant microbes.
Trichoderma spp populations can be up to, 4-6 times higher in chloropicrin treated soils.
Soil fumigation has been largely employed where crop value was high.
Strawberries, nurseries, tomatoes, peppers, apples, melons, ect. Chloropicrin has long been recognised as "the best fungicidal fumigant" because of its ability to destroy a wide variety of soil pests.
However research on formulations with other fumigants, in particular 1,3-Dichloropropene, (these two fumigants (1,3-D and chloropicrin) make an excellent combination which is more effective than either fumigants alone when multiple pest species threaten a crop.
Research has led to a better understanding of application methods.
Reduced rates mean that many more crops can benefit from an application of these products.
Soil fumigant formulations that primarily include chloropicrin can provide modern agriculture with a means to reboot and improve soil health, maintaining and increasing yields, ensuring safe, high quality produce to increasingly demanding markets.
- Copy supplied by R&R Fumigation Services.