Occurrence of pest nematodes in Burdekin and central Queensland sugarcane fields

Abstract

Five pest nematode species were widespread on sugarcane in central Queensland and the Burdekin region, namely Pratylenchus zeae, Meloidogyne javanicQ, Paratrichodorus minor, Helicotylenchus dihystera and Tylenchorhynchus annulatus. However, the Burdekin had a more diverse nematode fauna than central Queensland, as Pratylenchus coffeae, Tylenchorhynchus clay toni, Achlysiella williamsi and Paralongidorus spp. also occurred in more than 10% of the sites sampled. The most . important pests were considered to be P. zeae and M. javanica, as they were often found at high densities and their pathogenicity on sugarcane is established. High populations of the common species were found in most soil types, apart from Meloidogyne spp. which tended to be more common in the sandiest soils. In the Burdekin region, P. zeae and Meloidogyne spp. tended to be equally as widespread in soils recently developed for sugarcane as in soils of a similar texture under long term sugarcane production.