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Potato rot nematode found in Ottawa garlic field

Thursday, August 18, 2011

by SUSAN MANN

Four acres of a small Ottawa-area farm have been quarantined after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed the presence potato rot nematode -- in a garlic field.

Potato rot nematode is a regulated quarantine pest in Canada. While the nematode poses no risk to human health it can affect the international trade of certain commodities, especially potatoes.

The agency won’t release the name of the farm or the farmer, says Alain Boucher, national manager of the CFIA’s potato section. The entire farm is about 20 acres and grows garlic and corn.

The CFIA doesn’t yet know how potato rot nematode got on the farm.

The quarantine means that the farmer can’t move soil and any plant materials produced for transplanting from within those four acres. The quarantine went into effect earlier this week and could stay in place for years, Boucher says. No other farms around the affected farm are under quarantine.

The affected farm doesn’t produce potatoes or other plant material used for planting on other farms and is not in an area located near a seed potato production operation, according to the release.

Potato rot nematode is a tiny roundworm that can cause significant damage to roots, tubers and bulbs of host crops, including potatoes, sugar beets, carrots and garlic.  The nematode can reduce harvest yields and cause additional damage during storage. Once established, the nematode is nearly impossible to eliminate because it can survive on a range of other hosts and soil fungi.

 “We’re not overly concerned about it because it is in a small garlic field,” says Don Brubacher, general manager, Ontario Potato Board. He and Boucher agree there isn’t much chance of the nematode spreading to potatoes in the province.

 “If it was called something else it probably wouldn’t be an issue at all as far as potatoes are concerned,” Brubacher says. It has never been never been detected anywhere in the Ontario potato crop.

Brubacher says any problems with Ontario potato exports “certainly wouldn’t be warranted in this situation.”

Mark Wales, president of the Ontario Garlic Growers Association, says the potato rot nematode was found as part of a two year project studying a different pest, the stem and bulb nematode. Growers across Ontario have been submitting samples for analysis so researchers from the provincial agriculture ministry, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and University of Guelph can determine the races of the stem and bulb nematode and how extensive it is in the province.

The potato rot nematode was found in one sample from one grower, he says.
Boucher says CFIA specialists followed established procedures to confirm the presence of potato rot nematode.

Wales says “this is very serious for this grower.” There’s no compensation.

Wales doesn’t know who the farmer is either. Researchers working on the stem and bulb nematode project can’t release details identifying specific farmers to the industry association.

Industry groups want to know how got the potato rot nematode got on the affected farm and if it is anywhere else in Ontario, he says. Also should farmers be routinely testing for potato rot nematode before planting garlic?

The CFIA says it is collaborating with the federal agriculture department, the provincial agriculture ministry and industry.  Part of that investigation will be to determine how the nematode got on the farm and the extent of the infestation.

Potato rot nematode primarily spreads through the movement of infected tubers, rootstock, rhizomes and bulbs, especially Iris. Infested soil attached to planting material, machinery and vehicles may also carry it. Irrigation and flooding can contribute to short distance travel.

The potato rot nematode has been previously confirmed on Prince Edward Island, where it has been effectively controlled, and in areas of the United States, Africa, Europe, Mexico, Oceania and South America. BF

 

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