Plant Pathology (2007) 56, 526-535

P. Cadet, S.D. Berry, G.W. Leslie and V.W. Spaull (2007)
Management of nematodes and a stalk borer by increasing within-field sugarcane cultivar diversity
Plant Pathology 56 (3), 526-535
Abstract: The aim of this study was to determine whether an increase in plant diversity could modify the structure of the nematode community in favour of less pathogenic species and whether it affected the lepidopteran stalk borer, Eldana saccharina. Four sugarcane cultivars were planted either singly or as a mixture in the furrow. Nematodes were enumerated when the crops were 6 months old for five successive 10 to 13 month old crop cycles. Results showed that the mixture of cultivars had little significant impact on the overall abundance of the plant-parasitic or free-living nematodes. However, the nematode community structure within the mixture was slightly different to that observed on any single cultivar planted on its own and there was a higher than expected proportion of Helicotylenchus dihystera during the first three crops. With successive crops and in all treatments, there was an overall trend of increasing proportions of Meloidogyne javanica in the nematode community. However, the way that the change in the species-balance occurred in the mixed cultivar plots suggested a resistance to the evolving dominance of M. javanica. These results showed that sugarcane cultivars interacted within the rhizosphere when planted in a mixture because the observed nematode community in the mixture differed from that expected. The level of damage caused by E. saccharina was slightly lower in the mixture than expected from the actual cultivar composition.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Patrice Cadet, Shaun Berry

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
environment - cropping system/rotation

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Meloidogyne javanica	Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)
	Eldana saccharina	Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)
	Helicotylenchus dihystera	Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)