Gerald Thorne, Principles of Nematology,1961:

"Hot, dry climates offer an opportunity to employ fallow in the rotation. This consists in plowing the soil two or three times, the nemas thus being turned up to the heat of the sun, where they perish from desiccation. Vegetable growers in the Imperial Valley have successfully used this method for the past three decades. It is also frequently used in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas and other parts of the arid Southwest as reported by G. H. Godfrey in 1943. After two months of this fallow treatment, carrots, lettuce, and other vegetables are produced without loss. "

As with many many management techniques which we think of as being newly developed as alternatives to the use of chemical control, Thorne reminds us that our predecessors have conducted the pioneering research in this area.

Although in some cases only two to three months fallow are required, even this length of time is out of synch with current agricultural practices in some areas of California.

In the Imperial Valley, for example, it is not unusual for there to be only two to three weeks between crops.

This is a situation where accurate economic modeling comparing the cost of two to three months lost production time to the cost of chemical nematicides might yield useful changes in production practices.

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