Gaseous Hydrogen Cyanide as an Agent to Control Nematod es in Plant Materials

At present there is a lack of chemical agents on the market, which could be employed for protecting seed material, planting stock and wood against quarantine phyto-parasitic nematode species Ditylenchus dipsaci and Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. The object of this research consisted in the development of a new experimental system that would allow testing gaseous hydrogen cyanide for its possible use as an alternative fumigant to control phyto-parasitic nematodes. In this work the nematode species Caenorhabditis elegans was used as a model for testing. At the HCN concentration of 7 g.m–3 and the time of exposure of 270 minutes 100% mortality of the model species was achieved. Our future research activities should be aimed at establishing of the optimum ranges of temperature and relative humidity to be maintained in the fumigation chamber with a view to find the optimum process parameters, the concentration of HCN, air temperature and relative humidity in particular. It is expected that the use of hydrogen cyanide gas under favourable conditions will provide reliable elimination of phyto-parasitic nematodes in seed material, planting stock and wood