Horticultural Science and Technology 원예과학기술지 ISSN:1226-8763(Print) 2465-8588(Online)

Sugar beet cyst nematode, Heterodera schachtii , causes serious economic losses worldwide in Brassicaceae crops. In 2011, this nematode was first found in highland vegetable cultivation areas in Korea, and thereafter spread to the surrounding healthy Chinese cabbage fields. However, little has been documented on the biological and ecological characteristics of the sugar beet nematode in highland vegetable cultivation areas. In this study the dispersal of the sugar beet cyst nematode was examined, focusing on spreading through soil and/or water infested with the nematode. When farmers with work boots trampled on Chinese cabbage fields for 10 minutes, the number of cysts recovered from the soil attached to the working differed depending on the research sites. Under irrigation conditions of 2, 4, and 8 liters of water per m2, the amounts of soils attached on the bottom of the work boots and the number of healthy cysts in the soils increased significantly with the increase in soil moisture, although the total number of cysts, eggs, and juveniles did not increase significantly. After driving on the farm road adjacent to cabbage fields infested with the sugar beet cyst nematode, cysts were also recovered from the soil attached to the vehicle’s tires, suggesting that the sugar beet cyst nematode can spread to new fields through soil carried by vehicles and by farmers. An excavator and a motor truck could deliver 41 kg and 224 g, respectively, of soil on the shovel shoes and the wheels to other locations during the Chinese cabbage harvest, suggesting that farming equipment and transportation vehicles may be vital means by which the cyst nematode spreads to noninfested fields in the highland area of Korea. Runoff water also contained cysts, whose amounts increased after water irrigation onto the ridges to simulate rainy conditions, with no significant difference in the number of cysts with increasing amounts of irrigation water. All of these results confirmed that the sugar beet cyst nematode spreads through soil attached to work boots, harvesting tools, and transportation vehicles, especially during the harvest time, and through runoff water on rainy days. These observations suggest that personal sanitization and cleaning of working tools and vehicles are one of the most important means to prevent the dispersal of the sugar beet cyst nematode in fields.