Reactions of some Confectionery Groundnut Accessions to Plant Parasitic Nematodes Infection

Abstract

Investigations were conducted at four locations in Ghana during 2011 growing season to evaluate some confectionery groundnut accessions reactions to plant parasitic nematodes infection. Sixteen groundnut accessions were evaluated at Fumesua, Wenchi, Ejura and Atebubu in a 4 x 4 lattice design with three replications. Seeds were sown in four-row plots, five metres long at spacing of 50 cm between and 20 cm within rows. Plant parasitic nematodes populations per 200 cm³ soil, days of groundnut to 50% anthesis, days to maturity, pods/plant and pod yield were analyzed using GenStat statistical package. Three accessions; ICGV97040, ICGV97051 and ICGV97058 significantly (P < 0.05) reduced nematodes populations by (92, 94 and 79%), (92, 89 and 97%) and (86, 79 and 100%) in Meloidogyne arenaria, Pratylenchus brachyurus and Aphelenchoides arachidis compared with ICGV97045, ICGV97047 and ICGV97049 respectively at Wenchi. ICGV97051 which yielded the highest (3.2 t/ha) was approximately 97% higher than ICGV97061 (0.1 t/ha) the lowest yielding accession. ICGV97051 was identified as the most promising accession on account of high yielding and nematode suppression potential.

Keywords: Aphelenchoides arachidis, Arachis hypogaea, Meloidogyne arenaria, Pratylenchus brachyurus, Rotylenchulus reniformis, Scutellonema bradys.