Plant parasitic nematodes associated with tomato in Ghana

Abstract

A survey was conducted during 2011 in the Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Upper East regions of Ghana, West Africa, to identify the nematode taxa associated with tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). Eight nematode genera or species were encountered. They were: Helicotylenchus spp., Hoplolaimus indicus, Meloidogyne incognita, Pratylenchus brachyurus, Rotylenculus reniformis, Scutellonema spp., Tylenchulus spp. and Xiphinema elongatum. The Upper East Region (UER) had all eight nematode species, while the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions each had six nematode species only. Meloidogyne incognita was found in all the 21 farms sampled with a relative abundance of 36.8%, whilst Hoplolaimus indicus was the least abundant. Akomadan and Agogo, in the Ashanti region, were the greatest and least populated localities, respectively. Three species, M. incognita, P. brachyurus and R. reniformis were also extracted from tomato roots, with M. incognita being the most abundant and R. reniformis the least. Tomato cv. Petomech did not show galls in the three localities of the UER, but was severely galled at Akomadan in the Ashanti region.