Management of Tomato Ringspot Virus in Red Raspberry with Crop Rotation

Abstract Tomato ringspot virus (ToRSV) is an important disease of red raspberry which is vectored by the dagger nematode, Xiphinema americanum. A field study was conducted to evaluate crop rotation as an alternative to soil fumigation for the management of ToRSV. The effects of treatments on nematode population densities and ToRSV were evaluated for 18 months during growth of rotation crops, and for 36 months after replanting raspberries. Treatments included the rotational crops rapeseed (Brassica napus) and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea) (nonhosts for ToRSV), clean fallow, fumigation with methyl bromide, and controls in which raspberries followed raspberries. At planting, X. americanum densities were highest in fescue and control plots and lowest in fumigated plots, but densities decreased and remained low in all plots after planting ‘Meeker’ raspberries. Raspberry leaves were collected in each plot and assayed for ToRSV with ELISA for 3 years. ToRSV was detected only in the control plots. Rotations w...