NEMATODES IN TOBACCO IN THE MARITIME PROVINCES OF CANADA
Soil and root samples were collected from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) fields in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick in 1970 and 1972, and also from P.E.I, in 1971 and 1974. Twenty genera of plant and soil nematodes were recovered. The dominant plant-parasitic species were Pratylenchus crenatus Loof, 1960 and P. penetrans (Cobb, 1917) Filipjev and Stek., 1941. These two species were often found in the same sample and were most numerous in P.E.I., though their numbers were lower than had been recorded previously in forage and vegetable surveys. Meloidogyne hapla Chitwood, 1949 was recovered in low numbers from some of the samples. Nematicide treatments usually reduced the number of Pratylenchus spp., but there were no significant increases in yield or quality of tobacco. Laboratory and greenhouse experiments indicated that M. hapla did not invade or reproduce in tobacco roots as quickly as did P. penetrans. Neither species influenced plant growth significantly. It was concluded that plant-parasitic nematodes are riot a major problem in tobacco in the Maritime provinces.