Plant parasitic nematodes associated with pineapple in Kerala

Abstract

As a part of the studies on the occurrence of plant parasitic nematodes associated with pineapple in Kerala, a survey was carried out in different agro climatic regions of the Kerala State and it was found that R. reniformis occurred in more than 76 per cent of the locations sampled. Helicotylenchus spp. were recorded in about 50 per cent of the locations. The other plant parasitic nematodes detected in association with the crop included Meloidogyne spp., Creconemoides spp., Pratylenchus spp., Hoplolaimus and Hemicyclophora occurred in very low population densities. A new species of Helicotylenchus closely resembling H. digitatus ( Hussain and Siddique, 1964) but differing with respect to spear knob characters and location of excretory pore has been reported to be associated with the crop. The pot culture trial with M. incognita indicated that this nematode could not induce pathogenic effect on the cv kew even at the highest inoculum levels of 10,000 larvae per 7.5 kg soil during the period of 180 days.