Chloropicrin as a soil fumigant in forest nurseries

Abstract

Chloropicrin has been tested as a soil fumigant in forest nurseries throughout the world. From 1944 to the late 1960's, tests were conducted in Australia, Canada, Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. Since 1985, studies have been conducted in Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. In Wisconsin, chloropicrin reduced soilborne pathogens as effectively as twice as much methyl bromide. Advantages of chloropicrin as a soil fumigant in southern pine nurseries include: efficacy similar to methyl bromide (in regards to reduction in fungi, nematodes and insects), an increase in Trichodenna populations, it is not a Class 1 ozone depleting substance, and no plastic tarp is required. Adding chloropicrin to other fumigants has increased the spectrum of biological activity. A disadvantage of chloropicrin is that it has less herbicidal activity than methyl bromide.