DIAGNOSE DE FITONEMATOIDES EM CULTIVO DE HORTALIÇAS FOLHOSAS NA REGIÃO OESTE DE SANTA CATARINA

Abstract

In Santa Catarina State, Brazil, there is an agricultural production variety, according to the geographic area. The vegetable production in the Alto Uruguai Catarinense area has been increasing to meet the local market demand. The profiting vegetable cultivation has been a constant challenge, due to the intensive soil use and lack of crop rotation in most of the cultivated areas, which favors an increase in the pest and disease occurrence. The attack of phytonematodes is one of the known issues in Brazilian tropical regions. Thus, this paper aimed to diagnose phytonematodes in leafy vegetable crops in the western Santa Catarina, and to evaluate a subtropical climate area in Brazil for these pest and disease. The research area covered 14 municipalities belonging to this region, using sampling from 50 farms, established together with the technical support team and agricultural department of these municipalities from 2017 to 2018. On each farm, different areas were sampled and 10 to 15 soils and roots subsamples were taken to make a composite sample. Nematodes were extracted from the samples, and their suspension was moved to a biological slide for identification analysis in a photonic microscope, using the Mai & Mulin identification key. Eight genera of phytonematoids were found, and Helicotylenchus, Aphelenchus, Pratylenchus, and Aphelenchoides were the most important. The Scutellonema, Criconemoydes, Rotylenchus, and Hemicycliophora genera were found to a lesser extent. It is worth highlighting the wide spread of the Helicotylenchus genus in the vegetable cultivation areas in the western Santa Catarina. In addition, this study confirms phytonematoids occurrence in the evaluated areas of leafy vegetables, with low phytonematoids population level found in each sample and absence of the Meloidogyne genus. The first data regarding the nematological fauna in areas of vegetable cultivation in Santa Catarina State was found in this study. This data may be useful in the adoption of management practices, care of seedlings and seed origin, and mostly avoiding infestation in the vegetable cultivation areas, mainly of the gill nematodes of the Meloidogyne genus.

Keywords: Helicotylenchus spp., identification, olericulture, survey