Many times, reducing the severity and impact of soil borne pests in high value crops can only be accomplished through elaborate methods of soil treatment.
One such method is that of soil fumigation, where liquid or gaseous biocides must be injected into soil at precise rates and covered with plastic mulch in an attempt to avoid off-gassing and unwanted movement off target. This involves not only a thorough knowledge of the physical aspects of the chemistry of fumigants, but also that of soil structure, moisture, and plastic permeability.
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Workers familiar with soil fumigants fully realize two important aspects that determine effectiveness in controlling subterranean soil pests. They are: 1) The actual quantity (rate) of the chemical injected 2) the duration of pest exposure to the toxicant. Long exposure periods made possible by high barrier plastics, soil wetting, compaction, or depth of incorporation of a fumigant, can facilitate use of very low rates of the amount of toxicant needed to achieve a given level of control.
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New nomenclature to describe plastics that cover soil following fumigation has come about through recent studies using a variety of portable and laboratory instrumentation to detect movement of the fumigant through the plastic polymer itself.
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Because Pacific Ag Group maintains a large fleet of fumigation and spray equipment, we are continually asked to conduct government regulated air quality testing that require precise application, monitoring of air and worker exposure during these field activities. Pacific Ag has conducted hundreds of fumigant field studies that have identified these important parameters. Characterizing the behavior of these volatiles inside and out of treated areas dictate such usage considerations as buffer zones, personal protective equipment and the effect of various application methods such as broadcast shank, raised bed shank, and drip irrigation (chemigation).
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