RNGR.net is sponsored by the USDA Forest Service and Southern Regional Extension Forestry and is a colloborative effort between these two agencies.

U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Forest Service Southern Regional Extension Forestry Southern Regional Extension Forestry

Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Home → Publications → National Nursery Proceedings → 2011 → The History and Future of Methyl Bromide Alternatives in the Southern United States

The History and Future of Methyl Bromide Alternatives in the Southern United States

Starkey, T. E. National Proceedings: Forest and Conservation Nursery Associations - 2011, p.31-35. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Proceedings RMRS­P-68. 2012.

This article gives a brief history of the efforts of the Southern Forest Nursery Management Cooperative (SFNMC) in testing methyl bromide (MBr) alternatives for soil fumigation. In the southeastern United States, fumigation with MBr has been the most commonly used method for producing high quality, pest-free forest seedlings in an environment that is conducive for soil-borne pathogens, nematodes, and weeds. As a result of the Montreal Protocol, the production and use of MBr was to be incrementally phased out beginning in 2005. Included in this process are exemptions allowing for continued use and testing of fumigants with the goal of finding an alternative that is economically feasible and efficacious. Testing by the SFNMC has shown that, although there are alternatives to MBr, they are not as efficacious. Any choice of currently available alternatives will most likely require an increase in pesticide use to compensate for alternative short-falls. The effects of all alternatives following 4 to 5 crop rotations without MBr are unknown. Currently, recommended alternatives vary in their effectiveness from one nursery to another. The most significant development in soil fumigant research in the last 5 years has been the availability of high barrier plastics that will allow lower fumigant rates to be used. The most efficacious alternative for forest seedling nurseries in the southern United States is one that contains a significant percentage of chloropicrin as its active ingredient.


Download this file:

PDF document Download this file — PDF document, 291Kb

Details

Author(s): Tom E. Starkey

Publication: National Nursery Proceedings - 2011

Event: Joint Meeting of the Southern Forest Nursery Association and Northeastern Forest and Conservation Nursery Association
2011 - Huntington, West Virginia