Country: United States

Title: Update on Potato Cyst Nematode (PCN), Globodera pallida

Contact:
Osama El-Lissy, PPQ Emergency and Domestic Program: (301) 734-5459

Report: This memorandum provides an update regarding APHIS' and Idaho State Department of Agriculture's ongoing efforts in response to the potato cyst nematode (PCN), Globodera pallida, finds in Idaho.

After the initial detection of PCN in Idaho on April 19, 2006 a second detection occurred on June 13, 2006 from a 45-acre field in northern Bingham County. Soil samples tested positive for PCN based on morphological and DNA analyses. Production in the area is for fresh market and processed potatoes, not seed potatoes. As part of the investigation following the initial April detection, more than 4,800 samples, representing over 75 fields and facilities associated with the positive detection, have been collected and tested, and as part of these investigations, additional suspect fields were identified.

On July 12, 2006, a soil sample from another field within the same farming operation in northern Bingham County also tested positive for PCN. Confirmation was made based on morphological and DNA analyses. The two positive fields are approximately 0.5 miles apart.

APHIS and ISDA continue to implement a rigorous detection and delimiting survey of adjacent and associated fields and facilities. A statewide survey of commercial and seed potato production systems will be conducted during the current and future years. Regulatory plans are being developed. Additionally, best management practices for field and facilities sanitation are being developed for statewide distribution.
 

Posted Date: July 14, 2006, 9 a.m.