Chapter 5

Economic Importance, Epidemiology and

Management of Pratylenchus sp. in Coffee
Plantations

Luc Villain

Abstract As coffee-parasites, root-lesion nematodes (RLNs), Pratylenchus spp.,

have been underestimated in terms of their importance to coffee production. In-
deed, their migratory behavior and the symptoms they induce – non-specific root
necrosis – have not caught the attention of nematologists, extensionists and growers
until recently. Nowadays, RLNs are being recognized as damaging to arabica and
robusta coffees in Guatemala, El Salvador, Indonesia and Vietnam, among others.
This awareness has arisen from studies conducted on several aspects, such as popu-
lation fluctuation, epidemiology, assessment of damage threshold and management
through chemical, biological, cultural and genetic approaches. This chapter focuses
on discussing in detail all these aspects.

Keywords Root-lesion nematodes · epidemiology · chemical control · cultural

control · biological control · genetic control

5.1 Introduction

In some coffee-producing countries or regions, root-lesion nematodes (RLNs),

Pratylenchus spp., are considered major parasites of arabica and robusta coffees
(C. arabica L. and C. canephora Pierre ex Froehner, respectively). This review
complements Chapters 3 and 4, for it deals with management of RLNs. Initially, the
chapter emphasizes that these nematodes are likely to be more important to coffee
production worldwide than previously estimated. The available literature on RLN
population fluctuation is discussed, with emphasis on aspects related to production
systems. A thorough discussion is made on the difficulties in establishing and us-
ing damage thresholds for RLN-management. Different approaches for controlling
these nematodes – chemical, biological, genetic and cultural – have their advantages
and disadvantages examined. At the end, research needs are outlined in order to

L. Villain
Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement TA
A-98/IRD, Montpellier, France
e-mail: luc.villain@ird.fr

R.M. Souza (ed.), Plant-Parasitic Nematodes of Coffee, 65


C Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008
66 L. Villain

address two main goals: assessing the role played by RLNs on coffee production
worldwide and developing strategies for their efficient, durable and environment-
friendly management.

5.2 Economic Importance

The economic importance of RLNs to coffee production worldwide has probably

been underestimated. Indeed, unlike root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne sp.) which
induce root galls or swellings, RLNs induce non-characteristic necroses in the cortex
of coffee roots, which correlate with secondary detrimental alterations in the plant’s
physiology and above-ground symptoms (see Chapter 4). The root symptoms in-
duced by RLNs can easily be taken as death of coffee roots caused by normal phys-
iological changes during the plant’s phenological cycle or by unfavorable abiotic,
telluric conditions (water saturation, physical and/or chemical factors, etc). There-
fore, parasitism by RLNs and the related yield loss (see below) often pass unnoticed
unless field samplings and laboratory analyses are performed. Such analyses are
particularly necessary when coffee plants are parasitized by Meloidogyne sp., whose
symptoms easily mask the presence of RLNs.
Under these circumstances, it is quite difficult to estimate the economic impor-
tance of specific coffee-parasitic Pratylenchus species, all the more considering the
uncertainties on the taxonomic status of several amphimitic RLN populations (see
Chapter 3).
Because of its pantropic distribution, P. coffeae (Zimmerman) Filipjev and Schu-
urmans Stekhoven is the most reported species on coffee (Villain et al., 2002; Cam-
pos and Villain, 2005) and on other tropical or sub-tropical crops such as banana
(Gowen et al., 2005) and yam (Dioscorea sp.) (Bridge et al., 2005). Recent mor-
phological, biological and molecular studies have raised doubts on the taxonomic
status of several amphimitic coffee-parasitic RLN isolates from Central America
and Brazil (Hervé, 1997; Villain et al., 1998; Duncan et al., 1999; Villain et al., 2000;
Siciliano-Wilcken et al., 2002a,b; Silva and Inomoto, 2002). Particularly, some pop-
ulations from Guatemala, El Salvador and Costa Rica seem to belong to species
morphologically close to but different from P. coffeae because of their reproductive
isolation and genetic distance. Furthermore, these populations show considerable
variability in their root penetration dynamics and reproductive fitness on arabica
coffee (Villain et al., 2000; Villain et al., 2001a,c).
In conclusion, an indeterminate proportion of the reports dealing with coffee-
parasitic P. coffeae could probably be related to other Pratylenchus species, or even
to undescribed taxa. A similar situation has recently occurred with the descrip-
tion of a new species closely related to citrus-parasitic P. coffeae (Inserra et al.,
2001).
Bridge et al. (1997) suggested that P. coffeae, originally described from coffee
roots, could be native to the Pacific islands and the Pacific Rim countries, and that
it could have been spread worldwide through banana (Musa spp.) planting mate-
rials. In Central America, P. coffeae has been reported as economically important
for coffee cultivation in Guatemala (Chitwood and Berger, 1960; Schieber and