Description

Abstract: A survey was conducted during 1999 and 2001 in Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Eastern, and Volta regions of Ghana, West Africa, to identify nematode pests of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.). Information from the survey is being used to formulate appropriate integrated pest management (IPM) strategies for peanut production in these regions. Ten genera of plant parasitic nematodes belonging to three Orders were identified. Population density and distribution of genera varied in the four peanut-growing regions. Six genera, Helicotylenchus, Meloidogyne (juveniles), Paratrichodorus, Pratylenchus, Rotylenchulus, and Xiphinema were found in all four regions. Hoplolaimus was found only in the Eastern region. Trichodorus and Tylenchorhynchus were absent from Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions but present in Eastern and Volta regions. Nematode genus Rhignema of the Order Rhigonematida was isolated from millipedes sampled from the rhizosphere of peanut. Twenty-one peanut cultivars and experimental lines were assembled from the Savanna Agricultural Research Institute (SARI) in Ghana, the Crops Research Institute (CRI) in Ghana, and North Carolina State University in the US and were compared for resistance to nematodes in the field in Ghana at Kwadaso near Kumasi during 2000 and 2001. Eight nematode genera were identified in the field with seven of the eight genera found in the rhizosphere of peanut. Cultivars differed in their ability to suppress nematode populations. Eleven cultivars demonstrating promise for nematode suppression were selected for further screening. Six weed species were predominant in the experimental field before land preparation, and three endoparasitic nematodes, Pratylenchus brachyurus, Meloidogyne arenaria, and Rotylenchulus reniformis were extracted from the root system of some of the weed species. The highest nematode population was associated with Verona cinerea. Sida acuta was not infected by nematodes.