Geographical distribution of Xiphinema Cobb in Spanish vineyards

Abstract

Grapevines are readily cultivated in almost the whole of the Spanish Peninsula; on an acreage basis they are the third most important crop, after wheat and olive, occupying about 7% of the cultivated land. Because of the importance of this crop, and as a first step to subsequent and more intensive studies, we have been investigating for some years the occurrance and distribution of nematodes in the main vineyards areas of Spain: La Mancha, Requena, Utiel, Arag6n, La Rioja, El Priorato, El Panades, Alicante, Murcia, C6rdoba, Jerez, Huelva, Le6n and Galicia. Xiphinema species were found in the 60% of the samples examined. Because of the importance of these nematodes, not only as virus vectors but also because of the direct damage they cause to the plants by their feeding, a survey on their geographical distribution was undertaken and this is reported here.