Plant-parasitic nematodes associated with sweet potato rhizosphere soil in the Semi- Deciduous Forest and Coastal Savannah Zones of Ghana

Abstract

A survey was conducted in nine major sweet potato producing districts across the semi-deciduous forest and coastal savannah zones of Ghana to determine the prevalence of plant-parasitic nematodes parasitizing the crop. Soil samples were collected at 90-days after planting from the rhizosphere of sweet potato crop and analysed using Modified Baermann tray method from 100 farms across the study area. Seven plant-parasitic nematode genera were extracted from soil samples collected and morphologically identified under a microscope with four of them, namely Meloidogyne, Pratylenchus, Rotylenchulus, and Helicotylenchus being the most prevalent. Scutellonema sp. occurred in 89% while Tylenchus sp. occurred in 33% of the districts sampled. The ring nematode, Criconemella sp. was found in only two of the nine districts covered; Ketu North and Akatsi South which incidentally recorded 100% of the seven nematodes encountered in the survey. The abundant nematode was Meloidogyne sp. which represented 39% and Criconemella, the least (0.1%) of the total nematodes recovered in the survey. This study has shown that high diversity, incidence and density of economically important plant-parasitic nematodes are associated with sweet potato crop. Development of appropriate management strategies to mitigate the negative effects of plant-parasitic nematodes on sweet potato is recommended.

Plant parasitic nematodes and disease severity of common bean lines evaluated for reaction to root knot nematodes infestation

“…This agrees with earlier studies of Sima˜o et al, 2005 andWaceke (2018) that root knot nematodes are major pests associated with common bean, contributing significantly to a reduction in productivity (Karanja, 1988;Kimenju et al, 1999). Like the root knot nematode, the various nematode species identified could be a cause of concern to common bean production in Ghana as their inhibitory effect on several food crops such as sweet potato and yams have been reported (Lutuf et al, 2018;Adomako et al, 2020).…”