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Title: Potato cyst nematodes: pests of national importance

Author
item Wang, Xiaohong

Submitted to: Empire State Fruit and Vegetable Expo
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/7/2008
Publication Date: 2/12/2008
Citation: Wang, X. 2008. Potato cyst nematodes: pests of national importance. Empire State Fruit and Vegetable Expo. p. 30.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Potato cyst nematodes (PCN; G. rostochiensis and G. pallida) are internationally-recognized quarantine pests and considered the most devastating pests of potatoes due to annual worldwide yield losses estimated at 12.2%. PCNs continue to spread throughout North America and were recently detected in Idaho (G. pallida) and Quebec and Alberta, Canada (G. rostochiensis) creating serious problems for the potato industry, increasing the risk for the spread of PCN into other potato producing states, and resulting in a reevaluation of current quarantine practices. The ARS-Cornell potato cyst nematode program at Ithaca, New York, is the only research program in North America that has hands-on experience and expertise in the biology, resistance breeding, and management of the nematode. There is an urgent need to develop a coordinated national program for detection, control and management of potato cyst nematodes. The establishment of a coordinated national PCN program would benefit the U.S. potato industry and allow continued interstate and international potato trade.