Impact of chitin amendments on soil biodiversity. Chitin amendments to soil – a means to control potato cyst nematodes?

Potato cyst nematodes (PCN) are a wide spread and economically important pest that can in infected fields cause significant drops in potato yields. Control of potato cyst nematodes is difficult with cysts having the ability to persist in soils for decades. The withdrawal of many nematicides means there is a need to develop other non-nematicide control measures. One such measure is the addition of chitin containing soil amendments which are believed to promote the selection of chitin degrading microorganisms that can degrade the chitin contained within PCN eggshells. However questions still remain as to whether the addition of chitin in soil amendments does promote the growth of chitin degraders and if this translates into a reduction in PCN numbers. This project will use a run field trial investigating the effects chitin containing soil amendments to address these knowledge gaps.