Assalamualaikum wbt and good afternoon to Associate Prof.

Dr Norsida Binti Man, the time

keeper, the mc and fellow audience. Thank u for giving me this opportunity to speak today.
Now, I would like to talk about Nematode Problem and Management on Turf Grass
Area.
Ladies and gentlemen,

Did you know what is nematode?

nematode is actually microscopic organism that looks like worm. The plant parasitic
nematode mostly is soilborne pathogen.

The nematodes are divided into group according to how they feed on the host plant. There are
2 types of nematodes which is ectoparasitic nematode which punctured the root cell of plant
to feed but its body remain outside the and 2ndly, endo parasitic nematode which it enters the
plant. The problems and symptoms exhibit by the turf grass area varies according to the type
of nematode that attacks the area. The nematodes attack will damage the root system which
cause the turf grass ability to obtain water and nutrient decreased. As it happens, the turf
grass is highly susceptible to be affected by drought and other environmental stress. Other
than that, the turf grass is prone to be stunted and also wilted. Moreover, the wound from the
attack can cause 2ndary infection by fungi or bacteria. In addition, as the nematode
infestation typically occur in clump, the damage such as thinning of the grass usually happens
in a spot that eventually grow bigger over the time.

Now let move on to the management of nematode problem. There are several ways that we
could use to tackle this issue but today I will only highlight two method which is cultural
control and chemical control. The cultural method is unlikely will decrease the number of
nematode but it aims to helps the turfgrass to withstand the damage instead. For this method,
it is recommended to give deep but infrequent irrigation for the turfgrass to promotes deep
and robust rooting system as it can tolerate drought stress and nematode damage better. Other
than that, nitrogen fertilizer is very important for nematode damaged turfgrass. Light and
frequent application of fertilizer does promote new root growth. Besides that, it is
recommended to increase the mowing height and avoids frequent mowing to allow the turf to
produce more energy in order to combat the damaged done by nematode. In golf course,
alternating mowing and rolling is a great way to alleviate stress from just daily mowing.
Lastly, if we have more allocation, use sod that are grown in soilless media as it is free from
any soilborne pathogen.
For the second method of nematode management is chemical control. This method is used
manage the population of the nematode. Substance such as femaniphos and carbofuran has
been proven suitable to destroy nematodes. To choose which nematicide to use, it must be
based on species sampling as one type of nematicide doesn’t control all nematodes species so
multiple nematicide may be necessary to be used in rotation to avoid from killing only certain
species and to reduce the chances of resistance.

To sum up, not all nematodes brings danger to plant but the plant parasitic nematode does
effect the quality of turf grass area. And before ending my speech I would like to
recommended that we utilise both cultural and chemical control method in order to
effectively manage the problem caused by nematode infestation.