Fungicides and Nematicides: Their Role Now and in the Future

A great number of fungicides and nematicides effective in preventing losses from fungi and nematodes attacking plants have been developed. The first developed and most widely used nematicides are volatile and phytotoxic, which require that they be applied to the soil in advance of planting. More recently, less volatile and less phytotoxic nematicides have been developed which can be applied to living plants. The ideal nematicide would be systemic in plants and selectively toxic or repellent to nematodes. Although inorganic copper and sulfur fungicides are still in use, a wide variety of organic fungicides effective for the control of many of the major plant disease fungi have been developed. More recently a number of systemic fungicides have been discovered which are probably indicative of the type of fungicides that will be used in future years. Better fungicides and nematicides are needed not only as replacements for many of those now in use but also for the control of plant parasitic fungi and nematodes not effectively or economically controlled with existing materials. The high cost of developing new pesticides is, however, a deterrent in obtaining such materials.