The effect of root nematodes on the utilisation of phosphorus by white clover on a yellow-brown loam

Abstract

The effects of the parasitic root nematodes Heterodera trifolii (clover cyst nematode) and Meloidogyne hapla (root-knot nematode) on the response of white clover to applied phosphorus on Egmont brown loam were investigated under greenhouse conditions. The efficiency of phosphorus utilisation by white clover was markedly reduced in nematode-infested plants. Where nematodes were present, more than five times the quantity of phosphorus was required to give yields of clover similar to those obtained where nematodes had been eliminated with methyl bromide soil sterilisation. The implications of these results are discussed in relation to clover growth in the field.