Reason for Alternatives to Pesticides

by Dr. Ken Knutson, Plant Pathologist, Colorado State University

Among the major food crops of the world, potatoes require the highest level of pesticide usage. Current control strategies to fight soil borne diseases, foliar fungus diseases such as early and late blight and viruses routinely include nematicides, fungicides and insecticides. The Agricultural Statistics USDA 1994 Report indicates that US producers spent $6.9 billion for pesticides. There is tremendous need to reduce crop losses due to soil borne pathogens, such as Verticillium dahliae, Rhizoctonia solani [Anuratha, et al., 1996], Fusarium spp., and important foliar pathogens including Phytophthora infestans [Niderman, et al., 1995], Alternaria solani [Raeburn, 1995] and Pythium aphanidermatum [El Ghaouth, et al., 1994].

It is well known among farmers and crop production specialists that yield potential and harvested crop quality can be significantly reduced by diseases during the seedling phase of plant growth. Often seedlings are vulnerable to diseases that either destroy the plant or cause it to be stunted throughout the growing season. Chemical seed treatments, soil applied fungicides and soil fumigants are commonly used to protect the seedling plants. However , these methods represent possible sources of soil ecosystem/ground water pollution and potential threats to food safety. Consequently, federal and state laws are being implemented to limit such practices. Thus, there is need for development of alternative and environmentally safe methods for control of seedling diseases.

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