Horticultural Nematology

434 Pages·2014·8.58 MB·English

by  N.G. Ravichandra (auth.)

N.G. Ravichandra
Horticultural
Nematology
Horticultural Nematology

N.G. Ravichandra

Horticultural Nematology
N.G. Ravichandra
Professor and Scheme Head, AICRP (Nematodes)
Department of Plant Pathology
University of Agricultural Sciences
Bangalore, Karnataka , India
ISBN 978-81-322-1840-1 ISBN 978-81-322-1841-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-1841-8
Springer New Delhi Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
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Dedicated to My Mother

Foreword
Horticulture is an integral and important component in an agrarian economy
like India. Horticultural crops constitute a signifi cant segment of the total
agricultural production of the nation. The importance of horticulture in
improving the productivity of land, generating employment, improving
economic conditions of the farmers and entrepreneurs, enhancing exports,
and, above all, providing nutritional security to the people is widely acknowl-
edged. Horticulture has and will always exist as a matrix of interrelated areas
with overlapping and complex relationships. Describing its importance in the
physiological, psychological, and social activities of people is the key to
expanding understanding of horticulture.
Controlling phytonematodes is of great economic importance, when it
comes to successful cultivation of horticultural crops cultivated either in open
fi elds or polyhouse conditions. Worldwide, they cause signifi cant damage
and yield loss. The paradox is that much of the loss can be prevented with a
little care. There is clearly a lot that needs to be done to expand our knowl-
edge on plant-parasitic nematodes and our ability to deal with them.
These “hidden enemies” are diffi cult to manage as they are soilborne and
their populations vary mainly with soil type, soil moisture/temperature, and
genotype. Complex diseases involving nematodes and other soilborne fungi
and bacteria complicate the problem. Most insidiously, phytonematodes
evolve, often overcoming the resistance that is many a time hard-earned
achievement of the plant breeder. Major horticultural crops worldwide are
subject to nematode attack in the nursery, fi eld, protected cultivation, or even
during postharvest stage, which affects both the quantity and quality of the
produce, resulting in loss to the grower.
The book entitled Horticultural Nematology authored by Dr. N.G.
Ravichandra is an attempt to provide a detailed information on nematodes of
important horticultural crops and their management. The book is written with
the objective of providing a comprehensive and latest information on phyto-
nematodes. An exclusive chapter on novel methods of managing phytonema-
todes in horticulture without dealing with usual nematode management
practices provides a new dimension to nematode management using latest,
novel molecules. The book also throws light on the potential and future novel
nematode management strategies.
I congratulate the author Dr. N.G. Ravichandra, Nematologist, AICRP
(Nematodes), Department of Plant Pathology, Agricultural College,
vii
viii Foreword
University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK campus, Bangalore, Karnataka,
India, for providing details of essential topics pertaining to phytonematodes
associated with horticultural crops. I am sure that its readers will fi nd it very
useful and informative.
Bangalore
12 Jan 2014 Director of Research
Pref ace
Recent advances have shown that horticulture could become an environmen-
tally benign technology. Horticulture causes much less degradation of the
natural resources than agriculture. It is well known that phytonematodes are of
major concern to a wide range of horticultural crops grown worldwide, which
cause suffi cient crop damage and severe loss in the yield. Plant-p arasitic
n ematodes pose an enormous problem for global horticultural security. In the
fi rst instance, there is a lack of complete knowledge on precise identity/
diagnosis of strains of few damaging nematode pathogens that currently exist.
Potentially most dangerous phytonematodes are genetically variable, which
stands as a warning that genetic uniformity of even a small part of the genome
of a widely grown crop risks the hazard of a major epidemic of a nematode
with the ability to exploit the trait(s) that it governs.
However, detailed and latest information on major aspects of phytonema-
todes associated exclusively with horticultural crops is lacking. Hence, it was
thought to present a comprehensive book that covers some major nematode
topics of relevance to horticulture. The purpose of this book is to highlight the
signifi cance of phytonematodes in horticulture. It also provides basic informa-
tion on plant-parasitic nematodes since it is required for a better understanding
of advanced topics. Several popular topics, information on which is already
available in plenty, have been avoided. Thus, this book explicates both the
essential fundamental and advanced aspects pertaining to nematodes associ-
ated with horticultural crops.
The book is conveniently divided into 13 chapters, which cover the latest
information on the major fundamental and advanced aspects related to phyto-
nematodes including the role of phytonematodes in horticultural industry,
phylogenetic and evolutionary concepts in nematodes, major phytonema-
todes associated with horticultural crops and their diagnostic keys, symptoms
caused by phytonematodes and disease diagnosis, nematode population
threshold levels, crop loss assessment, nematode diseases of horticultural
crops and their management, nematode disease complexes, genetics of nema-
tode parasitism, important nematological techniques, and nematodes of quar-
antine importance. One chapter in particular can be singled out for special
comment. An exclusive chapter on novel methods of nematode management
has been included mainly to provide information on the latest molecules and
novel modes of managing nematodes attacking horticultural crops. Routine
nematode management aspects, information on which is already available,
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