Biocontrol-based strategies for improving soil health and managing plant-parasitic nematodes in coffee production.

Coffee is an important commodity for Kenya, where production is steadily declining, despite a global rise in demand. Of the various constraints affecting production, plant-parasitic nematodes are a significant, but often overlooked, threat. As a perennial crop, treating plantations once infected with nematodes becomes difficult.

Planting Material of Enset (), a Key Food Security Crop in Southwest Ethiopia, Is a Key Element in the Dissemination of Plant-Parasitic Nematode Infection.

Enset (), is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the family Musaceae, along with banana and plantain. Despite wild populations occurring in eastern, central and southern Africa, it is only in Ethiopia that the crop has been domesticated, where it is culturally and agriculturally symbolic as a food security crop. Although an under-researched orphan crop, enset serves as a staple food for about 20% of the Ethiopian population, comprising more than 20 million people, demonstrating its value in the country.

Cyst nematode bio-communication with plants: implications for novel management approaches.

Bio-communication occurs when living organisms interact with each other, facilitated by the exchange of signals including visual, auditory, tactile and chemical. The most common form of bio-communication between organisms is mediated by chemical signals, commonly referred to as 'semiochemicals', and it involves an emitter releasing the chemical signal that is detected by a receiver leading to a phenotypic response in the latter organism. The quality and quantity of the chemical signal released may be influenced by abiotic and biotic factors.

Potato Cyst Nematodes: A New Threat to Potato Production in East Africa.

Potato cyst nematodes (PCN), such as and , are quarantine restricted pests of potato causing major yield and financial losses to farmers. was first reported from Kenya's key potato growing area in 2015. We sought to determine the diversity, prevalence and distribution of PCN species across the country by conducting a country-wide survey between 2016 and 2018, which included a more focused, follow-up assessment in three key potato growing counties.

Prevalence and parasite load of nematodes and trematodes in an invasive slug and its susceptibility to a slug parasitic nematode compared to native gastropods.

The invasive slug Arion vulgaris (Gastropoda: Arionidae) is an agricultural pest and serious nuisance in gardens of Central and Northern Europe. To investigate if the success of A.vulgaris in Norway can be attributed to a release from parasites, we compared the prevalence and parasite load of nematodes and trematodes in A.

African Nightshade and African Spinach Decrease Root-Knot Nematode and Potato Cyst Nematode Soil Infestation in Kenya.

Plant-parasitic nematodes, particularly root-knot nematodes (RKN: spp.) and cyst nematodes (CN: and spp.) cause severe yield reduction in most cultivated crops and are of high economic importance.

Management of Cyst and Root Knot Nematodes: A Chemical Ecology Perspective.

Plant parasitic nematode infection of crops can be highly detrimental to agricultural production. Since the discovery that plant roots release chemicals that attract the infective stage of plant parasitic nematodes some 80 years ago, significant progress in identifying the signaling molecules has occurred only relatively recently. Here, we review the literature on chemical ecological studies of two major plant parasitic nematode groups: root knot nematodes in the genus Meloidogyne and cyst nematodes in the genus Globodera because of the negative impact their parasitism has on farming systems in Africa.

Plant-Parasitic Nematodes and Food Security in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a region beset with challenges, not least its ability to feed itself. Low agricultural productivity, exploding populations, and escalating urbanization have led to declining per capita food availability. In order to reverse this trend, crop production systems must intensify, which brings with it an elevated threat from pests and diseases, including plant-parasitic nematodes.

Angiostoma norvegicum n. sp. (Nematoda: Angiostomatidae) a parasite of arionid slugs in Norway.

Angiostoma norvegicum n. sp. (Angiostomatidae) is described from the oesophagus, crop and the buccal mass of five species of slugs of the family Arionidae, Arion vulgaris (Moquin-Tandon), Arion ater (L.

The effects of strawberry cropping practices on the strawberry tortricid (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), its natural enemies, and the presence of nematodes.

Cropping practice can affect pests and natural enemies. A three-year study of the strawberry tortricid, Acleris comariana (Lienig and Zeller) (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae), its parasitoid Copidosoma aretas Walker (Hymenoptera: Encyrtidae), and its entomopathogenic fungi was conducted in seven pairs of organic and conventional farms to test the hypothesis that farming practice (organic versus conventional) will affect the level of pest infestation and will affect the natural enemies. In addition, the number of years with strawberries on the farm, field age, and other factors that may affect pests and their natural enemies were considered.

Invasive slug populations (Arion vulgaris) as potential vectors for Clostridium botulinum.

Background: Norwegian meadows, including those for silage production, are recently found heavily invaded by the slug Arion vulgaris in exposed areas. As a consequence, large numbers of slugs might contaminate grass silage and cause a possible threat to animal feed quality and safety. It is well known that silage contaminated by mammalian or avian carcasses can lead to severe outbreaks of botulism among livestock.

Spatiotemporal analysis of predation by carabid beetles (Carabidae) on nematode infected and uninfected slugs in the field.

The dynamics of predation on parasites within prey has received relatively little attention despite the profound effects this is likely to have on both prey and parasite numbers and hence on biological control programmes where parasites are employed. The nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita is a commercially available biological agent against slugs. Predation on these slugs may, at the same time, result in intraguild predation on slug-parasitic nematodes.