ARS | Publication request: BAHIAGRASS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF RING NEMATODE IN PEACH

Submitted to: Proceedings of International Research Conference on Methyl Bromide Alternatives
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: November 3, 1997
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Finding suitable nonchemical alternatives to chemical control of plant-parasitic nematode pests of stone fruits is a major research thrust at the USDA, ARS, SE Fruit and Tree Nut Research Lab in Byron, Georgia. Past research at another ARS laboratory has demonstrated that peach trees tend to grow better and survive longer in cooler environments when planted into killed fescue middles. Unfortunately, most fescue sods are not well adapted to our warm climate in the lower elevations of the Southeast. Grasses that do adapt well to warm climates and are cold tolerant include Pensacola and Tifton-9 bahiagrass. Greenhouse studies at the ARS laboratory in Byron have indicated that Pensacola and Tifton 9 bahiagrass are poor hosts to the ring nematode, Criconemella xenoplax. The objectives of this study were to determine if Pensacola and Tifton-9 bahaigrass, when planted as a preplant nematode management system, would contribute to improved peach tree growth, suppress the population density of C. xenoplax under orchard conditions, and(or) increase tree survival from peach tree short life (PTSL).