Dry season survival of Pratylenchus spp. in maize fields, in Western Nigeria

Authors

  • O. A. Egunjobi
  • E. I. Bolaji

Abstract

In most parts of Africa, populations of plant parasitic nematodes decrease during the dry season but numbers rapidly increase in the presence of suitable host crops during the wet, cooler months (Shoemaker and Ledger, 1968; Egunjobi, 1974; Ballaux et al., 1975). In Nigeria, some Meloidogyne species survive the adverse dry season on weed hosts (Odihirin, 1974; Fawole, 1972), and Egunjobi (1974) suggested that populations of Pratylenchus brachyurus (Godfrey) similarly aestivate in weed hosts and also in dead roots of harvested maize crops or as eggs in the soil. This paper is an account of investigations in Western Nigeria to establish the importance to the survival of Pratylenchus spp. during the dry season of dead, dry maize roots and some weed species in harvested maize plots.

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Published

1979-12-15

Issue

Section

Articles