Control of beet cyst-nematode, Heterodera schachtii, by aldicarb applied to the soil by a vertical band-reciprocating harrow technique or by rotary cultivation

As little as 0.8 kg aldicarb ha^-1 applied to bands of soil 15 cm wide × 15 cm deep, in which sugar beet seeds were sown, increased beet yields as much as did 2.6 or 5.0 kg ha^-1 rotary cultivated into the top 15 cm of soil lightly or moderately infested with beet cyst-nematode, Heterodera schachtii. In a very heavily infested soil, 1.7 kg ha^-1 applied to the bands of soil increased beet yields as much as 2.6 kg ha^-1 rotavated into the top 15 cm of the soil; yields were further increased by 5.0 and 9.9 kg ha^-1 rotavated in but not by 3.5 kg ha^-1 in the bands of soil. Soil populations of the nematode increased little or not at all whether the soil was treated with aldicarb or not. The band treatment was achieved by a vertical band- reciprocating harrow technique, which is described. The advantages of this new technique for the control of beet cyst-nematode and other soil pests of widely spaced row crops are safer application of less pesticide, thereby minimising cost of treatment and any risk to the environment, faster seedbed preparation and adequate control of pest population increase on the susceptible crop, especially if coupled with biological control.