Learn About Coffee Nematodes And Prevention Methods – Coffee nematodes are a reasonably common pest on coffee and many other crops. They cause damage to the roots and often drive stunted plants, poor growth, and reduced yield.
In today’s article, we will learn about nematodes on coffee trees and effective prevention measures. We invite you to consult together.
What is a coffee nematode?
Nematodes are parasitic worm-like shapes, tiny in size, and difficult to see with the naked eye. The genus of nematodes has thousands of species, often inhabiting soil, water, and many other environments.
There are beneficial species but many harmful ones. For crops in general and coffee in particular, there are two species of harmful nematodes, Meloidogyne spp and Radopholus spp.
These two species of nematodes often live and damage the roots, creating nodules and wounds on the bases, leading to the attack of other fungi.
Symptoms of coffee plants with nematodes
- Coffee trees with root nematodes will show yellow leaves, stunted growth, and underdeveloped young shoots—causing productivity declines.
- When digging down the roots, nodules appeared clearly on the bases. The hairy roots and bran roots are black and cannot develop.
- Plants in the rebuilding or replanting stage are often more severely damaged. Roots pile and branch roots are damaged or slow growing, so the tree is often weakened and quickly dies, which can be easily uprooted with bare hands. If this stage is overcome, growth and yield are not guaranteed.
The harmful effects of coffee nematodes
- The rainy season when the humidity is proper, will be the period when nematodes multiply most strongly. They usually lay eggs in the soil, and the larvae and young, after hatching, will continue to spread to nearby roots. The raised nodules on the bases are where they live. The formation of nodules hinders the absorption of nutrients and water to feed the plant. At the same time, the nematodes themselves also use the nutrients absorbed by the plant to live and develop.
- Through sucking sap and nesting in the roots, bacteria and fungi will quickly attack and damage the roots, spreading the disease to other parts of the tree.
- Seedlings often do not stand, are yellow, and die; adult plants can continue to live but grow poorly and yield very low.
- The average life cycle of nematodes is from 40-60 days, but their eggs can survive 1 to 2 years in the soil; so many coffee gardens have uprooted old trees, but when planting new ones, they are still affected by nematodes. harmful insects
Some measures to prevent coffee nematodes
a – Cultivation method
- Do not plant new coffee on areas of land that have been infected with nematodes in previous years.
- If you want to plant, you should plow the soil thoroughly, dry the ground for at least one dry season, and grow vegetables for 2-3 crops to ensure that the eggs and young of the nematodes are destroyed.
- When brooding coffee should, use clean soil treated with nematode drugs.
- High-yielding coffee varieties with strong growth power ensure that the plants are healthy enough to withstand disease and drought. We recommend the Dwarf green coffee variety, string coffee variety, TR4, TR9, and TRS1 coffee variety.
- Fertilizer for coffee is balanced between inorganic and organic fertilizers. Organic fertilizers should contain antagonistic fungi Trichoderma and valuable microorganisms.
- In the dry season, watering is limited, causing nematodes to spread
- If planting on sloping land, it is necessary to pay attention to the gardens at a higher position, take measures to dig trenches to direct the flow of water, to limit the spread of diseases from one park to another.
- Annually, it should be proactively prevented by using biological and chemical drugs to treat nematodes. Especially at the beginning of the rainy season
b – Chemical + biological measures
Priority should be given to the use of biological methods for treatment first because the widespread use of chemical drugs can destroy beneficial organisms in the soil, unbalance the ecological balance and affect plants. Plant.
Treatment with biological origin nematodes
- Drugs containing parasitic fungi that specialize in nematode hunting – Paecilomyces Lilacinus (BIO PARCEL, PALILA 500WP, TKS – NEMA)
- Medicines containing Chitosan (A preparation of biological origin)
Treatment that treat nematodes of chemical origin
- The drug contains the active ingredient Abamectin (Syngenta Tervigo 020SC…). The Eakmat Institute recommends this. Due to low toxicity does not affect humans, the environment, or pets.
- The drug contains the active ingredient Chlorpyrifos Ethyl (Well of 3GR, Nurelle D 25/2.5 EC …)
Just now are some of the coffee nematode prevention experiences that we have gathered for your reference to get a timely treatment plan to avoid affecting the yield and growth of the coffee garden.