Nov 1, 2011Pale cyst nematodes found in additional Idaho fields
Two new detections of pale cyst nematode (PCN) in eastern Idaho in the fall have brought the total number of infested acreage to 1,476 and regulated acres to 15,533, with an additional 250 acres expected to be added to the total regulated by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
The initial finding on March 18 was in a 164-acre field in Bonneville County. On Aug. 17 and Sept. 16, the two new fields, totaling 203 acres, near Shelley, Idaho, in northern Bingham County, were added to the list of infested fields.
Tina Gresham USDA APHIS director of the PCN program anticipates an additional 250 acres to be added to the total regulated acreage following the Sept. 16 PCN detection.
According to a USDA press release, a field is designated as an associated field when PCN host crops have been grown in the field in the past 10 years and the field shares a border with an infested field or the field came into contact with a regulated articles from an infested field with the past 10 years or within the past 10 years the field shared ownership, tenancy, seed, drainage or runoff, farm machinery, or other elements of shared agricultural practices with an infested field that could allow spread of PCN.
Host crops are eggplant, pepper, potato, tomatillo and tomato.
