Control of potato virus Y (PVY) in seed potatoes by oil spraying, straw mulching and intercropping

Potato virus Y (PVY) is the potato virus with the highest economic impact on seed potato production. Insecticides are efficient in controlling aphids, which are the vectors of this virus, but rarely limit virus spread in the field. Straw mulching and mineral oil spraying are known as alternatives to insecticides to reduce PVY incidence, but important year-to-year variation in efficacy has been observed with both of these techniques. Preliminary studies revealed the efficacy of intercropping in controlling PVY spread, but more data are needed to validate this observation. A four-year field trial was conducted in Switzerland to assess the potential synergistic effect of combining mineral oil spraying with straw mulching to increase the protection of seed potato crops against PVY spread. Furthermore, the efficacy of intercropping with oat and hairy vetch was examined as a novel way to control in-field PVY spread. The present work demonstrates that the modes of action of mineral oil and straw mulching are complementary and reduce the year-to-year variation observed with oil and straw when used alone as PVY control agents. The results also demonstrate the efficacy of intercropping for the control of PVY, and the mode of action of this novel control method is discussed. Overall, this work shows that it is possible to increase the protection of potato fields against PVY spread by combining control strategies with different modes of action that complement each other, such as mulching, oil spraying and intercropping.