Prevalence of Plant-Parasitic Nematodes in Horticultural Fields of Assam Agricultural University: Jorhat Campus, India

A random survey of the horticultural crops was conducted to assess the nematode community structure in the Experimental field of Department of Horticulture, AAU, Jorhat during Rabi and Kharif season, 2022-2023. Soil and root samples, representing 200 locations were examined. Analysis of 200 soil and root samples collected from the root rhizosphere of different vegetable, fruit and ornamental crops showed the presence of root-knot nematode(Meloidogyne incognita), reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis), root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus spp.), lance nematode (Hoplolaimus spp.), spiral nematode (Helicotylenchus spp.), stunt nematode (Tylenchorhynchus spp.) along with Criconema spp., Xiphinema spp, Longidorus spp., free-living nematodes, mycophagous nematodes and predatory nematodes. Among all the isolated plant-parasitic nematodes, root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) was found to be more abundant with prominence value of 136.7, 81.3 and 76.3 in vegetable crops, fruit crops and ornamental crops, followed by Helicotylenchus spp. and Rotylenchulus reniformis. The prominence value of reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) was found to be 90.5, 54.1 and 54.1 in vegetable crops, fruit crops and ornamental plants respectively.