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Title: PLANT-PARASITIC NEMATODES RECORDED IN DHOFAR GOVERNORATE OF OMAN

Author
item MANI, ANNAMALAI - MIN AGRIC AND FISH, OMAN
item AL-HINAI, MUZNA - MIN AGRIC AND FISH, OMAN
item Handoo, Zafar

Submitted to: Nematropica
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/11/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Nematodes are microscopic worms that cause eighty billion dollars of crop loss in the world each year. One problem with determining the extent of nematode damage to crop plants is that the plant-parasitic nematodes present in many areas are not known. No detailed survey of plant nematodes in the Dhofar Governorate of Oman has previously been made, though occasional reports on individual species in limited areas have been published. Observations have suggested that these reported nematodes might be more widespread than recognized and that unidentified plant nematodes also exist in the area. The objective of this work was to document the occurrence of some economically important nematode species that exist in the above specified region. This paper reports the identification, incidence percentage, population density, host association and distribution of plant-parasitic nematodes in a survey of 31 major crops of Oman. This research revealed the presence of 21 species of economically important plant nematodes, of which 11 are reported in the region for the first time. Stunt nematodes were the most frequently encountered group of nematodes followed by spiral, root-knot, reniform and lesion nematodes respectively. These results will aid growers and extension agents in planning cropping systems, and will serve as a useful guide to researchers in planning future research and revising quarantine strategies.

Technical Abstract: A survey was carried out in August, 1995, in five Wilayats of Dhofar Governorate in the Sultanate of Oman. A total of 125 soil samples collected from 12 vegetable, 11 tree fruit and eight field crops were examined and 20 genera of phytonematodes were recorded, of which 8 known genera and 11 species are reported in the region for the first time. The economically important nematode genera found were Helicotylenchus, Hoplolaimus, Meloidogyne, Pratylenchus, Radopholous, Rotylenchulus, Tylenchorhynchus, and Tylenchulus. Helicotylenchus multicinctus, M. incognita, M. javanica, P. jordanensis, and Rotylenchulus reniformis were the most frequently observed and widely distributed nematode species on several vegetable and tree fruit crops, whereas Radopholus similis was often recorded on banana. The other nematode genera recorded were Aphelenchoides, Aporcelaimus, Boleodorus, Criconemella, Eudorylaimus, Hemicriconemoides, Hemicycliophora, Longidorus, Mulkorhynchus, Paratylenchus, Psilenchus and Xiphinema.