Plant Parasitic Nematodes of Virginia and West Virginia

Abstract

The first plant parasitic nematode to cause alarm in Virginia and West Virginia was the wheat gall nematode, Anguina tritici, which was found in Rockingham County, Virginia in 1917 where it had been present for 10 years or more, causing a loss of 25–50%. A quarantine was threatened for Virginia, West Virginia and Georgia, but was not realized. It was eventually eradicated by using crop rotation and clean seed. Root knot nematodes became the second recognized plant parasitic nematode, and is the most prevalent and widespread plant nematode in these two states. They affect most of the major field crops such as tobacco, cotton, wheat, tomato, potato, peanut and pumpkin; damage crops that support livestock including alfalfa, soybean and corn and cause injury to crops that improve the quality of life like vegetables, grapes, fruit, nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and turfgrass. Although a bulletin was published warning about the occurrence of soybean cyst nematode in North Carolina and strict measures were put in place to prevent its spread to Virginia, it was too late and it rapidly became another important nematode. However, soybean cyst nematode is not a problem in West Virginia, because soybeans are not widely grown. In West Virginia, root knot, lesion, and dagger nematodes are the three most important genera. Fortunately, in both states, agriculture has adapted very well to the demands placed on it by growers, government and society. As both states continue to lose vast areas of farmland to urban sprawl, and less available fertile agricultural land remains for farming and more pressure is placed on utilizing sustainable practices, plant parasitic nematodes will remain an important factor that must be considered when implementing sustainable agricultural practices.