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Alternatives to Methyl Bromide Yields Benefits to Farmers

Research on Alternatives to Methyl Bromide Yields Benefits to 
Farmers

A side benefit of the search for alternatives to methyl bromide, 
scheduled for phase-out in 2001, is the research and education on 
cultural practices and biological controls that are common to organic 
agriculture, or are closely aligned with technologies appropriate to 
sustainable agriculture: 

*crop rotations
*cover crops to enhance soil foodweb
*fumi-toxic brassica cover crops 
*soil amendments--compost, animal manures, green manures, sewage 
  sludge, animal byproducts, fish byproducts, chitin, brassica green chop
*soil solarization
*steam pasteurization
*hot water
*microbial antagonists--SoilGaurd, Mycostop, Promot
*microbial nematacides--DiTera 
*microbial inoculation--mycorrhizae, trichoderma
*natural biological control of soil pathogens--antagonism, competition, 
  antibiotics, induced resistance, suppressive soils, predation 
*disease-suppressive composts
*resistant varieties
*cultural practices--delayed planting, transplants, microbial 
  inoculation, cover crops, soil amendments 

While methyl bromide has played an important role in the development
of certain horticultural industries, especially in California and Florida, an 
instructive note is that 90-95% of all crops in the U.S. are grown without 
fumigants like methyl bromide.  

The situation in Florida and California is skewed, largely due to 
production of continuously cropped monocultures such as strawberries, 
tomatoes, and peppers on high value land.  Nursery and ornamental crops 
account for 10% of methyl bromide use in the U.S. 

The soils that produce grain crops on the vast acreages of farmland, 
as well as those that support small-acreage horticultural crops in 
many parts of the country , do not require fumigation because  
husbandry practices do not push soil-borne diseases and nematodes 
to the limit. 

Thus, for a majority of farmers, methyl bromide is a non-issue.  

And for the methyl bromide-dependent California and Florida farmers, 
there is information emerging which suggests that adoption of sustainable 
farming technologies, especially those that focus on soil health, is 
a necessary step. 

Three resources on alternatives to methyl bromide worth a look: 

1.  1996 Annual International Research Conference on 
     Methyl Bromide Alternatives and Emissions Reductions, 
     proceedings of a conference held November 4-6, 1996 in 
     Orlando, Florida.

2.  IPM Alternatives to Methyl Bromide, a compilation of 
     articles from The IPM Practitioner

3.  Methyl Bromide Alternatives, a USDA web site with 
     full-text articles and technical reports 
     http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/july1997/index.htm

=============================================
Selected articles from USDA's Methyl Bromide Alternatives site: 
=============================================
Biologically Controlling Soilborne Pests: A Research Overviews
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/jan97/soilpest.htm

California Strawberries: An Integrated Approach Overview
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/jan97/calstraw.htm

Soil Amendments Instead of Methly Bromide?
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/jan97/amend.htm

Effect of Soil Solarization & Cover Crops on Soilborne Pests 
& Plant Pathogens 
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/oct96/soil.htm

Netherlands' Alternatives to Methyl Bromide
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/oct96/nether.htm

Potential Alternatives for Floriculture
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/july96/macdon1.htm

Portable Unit Sterilizes Soil
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/july1997/steam.htm

Broccoli Chemical Soil Fumigants
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/july96/subbar1.htm

Alternatives to MeBr for Control of Soilborne Pests of Grapevines &
Tree Fruits & Nuts 
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/oct96/grapev.htm

Use of Hot Water for Nematode Control: A Research Summary 
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/april96/noling.htm

DiTera: Controlling Nematodes Biologically
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/jan97/ditera.htm

SoilGard Story
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/jan96/lumsden.htm

Southern Root-knot Nematode Resistant Bell Peppers
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/july1997/pepper.htm

Summary of 1995-96 Large-Scale Field Demonstration/Validation Plots
for Soil Solarization (Tomatoes)
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/april97/techrpt.htm
===============================================

Steve Diver
ATTRA 
http://www.attra.org 


--
steved@ncatark.uark.edu

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