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Application of Preplant Fumigants via Drip Irrigation Systems for the Management of Root Rot of Melons Caused by Monosporascus cannonballus

Root rot and vine decline, caused by Monosporascus cannonballus, is a destructive disease of melons in the desert production regions of southern California. In 1998, we initiated studies on the use of preplant fumigation to reduce resident pathogen populations in soil. Preplant fumigation with methyl iodide injected as a hot gas at 448.4 kg/ha through drip irrigation tape in preformed, tarped beds consistently provided significant (P < 0.05) reductions in the percentage of roots infected compared with the nonfumigated controls; these reductions were equal to or better than those achieved with an equivalent rate (448.4 kg/ha) of methyl bromide. Chloropicrin applied in water at 249.0 kg/ha through buried drip irrigation tape to either tarped or nontarped beds significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the percentages of both roots infected and roots on which perithecia were produced compared with nonfumigated controls.