Parasitic Nematodes of Cashew Plants in Nurseries in Western Burkina Faso

Abstract

Cashew production is a very important source of income for thousands of people in Burkina Faso and employs more than 45,000 households from production to marketing. The cashew tree is subject to many phytosanitary problems that can cause huge yield losses. An inventory of parasitic nematodes associated with cashew trees in nurseries in a farming environment was carried out for the first time. Cashew production is a very important source of income for thousands of people in Burkina Faso and employs more than 45,000 households from production to marketing. The cashew tree is subject to many phytosanitary problems that can cause yield losses. An inventory of parasitic nematodes associated with cashew plants in nurseries in a farming environment was carried out. The inventory revealed that ten (10) genera of nematodes are associated with the cashew plants in the nursery and the most frequent present in the soil are represented by Helicotylenchus dihystera (78.43%), Tylenchus sp. (62.75%), Pratylenchus brachyurus (39.22), Scutellonema cavenessi (33.33%) and Tylenchorhynchus sp. (19.61%). The most abundant nematodes were represented by Helicotylenchus dihystera and Tylenchus sp. with 336 and 53 nematodes/soil dm3 respectively. Five genera of nematodes are associated with the roots of cashew plants in nurseries, the most frequent of which are represented by Tylenchus sp. and Pratylenchus brachyurus at levels of 62.75 and 52.94% respectively.  Population densities of root-extracted nematodes were low with a maximum of 2 nematodes/g of roots.