TNAU cautions on nematode infestation in orchards

Root knot nematode menace appears to have impacted fruit orchards in the State.

The farm varsity has issued an alert to fruit growers to check the polybags by removing the soil medium and observing roots for any knots or swellings, before they make bulk purchase of planting material from nurseries.

This will avoid entry of nematodes into orchards through the plant materials, which could be difficult to control once established, a TNAU release said.

The university observed that the nematodes infestation occurs at nursery stage, where the planting materials such as ground layers, rooted cuttings and grafts were infested with root knot nematodes.

“The symptoms are sometimes seen as marginal necrosis in leaves and small knots/galls (roundish swellings) on roots. Such infested materials once planted in fields will start deteriorating after one to two years by which time it will be too late to retrieve the plants. Nematodes pave the way for entry of fungi through the wounds caused by their feeding, which further aggravates the situation by way of causing wilt disease in fruit orchards. Prevention is, therefore, better than cure,” the statement said.

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