ABSTRACT
A study was conducted to determine the genera, frequency and prominence value of plant parasitic nematodes associated with Jatropha curcas accessions in Sabon Gari, Kudan, Giwa and Zaria Local Government Areas of Kaduna State, Nigeria in 2013. Using systematic random method of sampling, 72 soil and root samples were collected from the Jatropha plant stands, and nematodes extracted from the samples using the sieving and decanting and modified Baermann pan methods. Twenty-four genera of plant-parasitic nematodes were recorded in all the locations. Plant-parasitic nematodes recovered includes Scutellonema, Hoplolaimus, Pratylenchus, Aphelenchus, Meloidogyne, Tylenchoryhnchus, Rotylenchus, Longidorus, Helicotylenchus, Paratylenchus Heterodera Xiphinema, Tylenchus, Criconemoides, Hemicycliophora, Aphelenchoides, Tetylenchus, Trichodorus, Dorylaimus, Tylenchulus, Telotylenchus, Pratylenchoides, Telotylenchoides, and Rotylenchoides. The most prominent nematode from the soil were Scutellonema with prominence value of 81.09, followed by Meloidogyne and Rotylenchus with prominence values of 46.50 and 39.60 respectively, and from the roots, Scutellonema, Meloidogyne and Rotylenchus with prominence values of 77.15, 50.93 and 26.94, respectively. Scutellonema, Tylenchus and Meloidogyne were the most abundant nematodes from the soil with frequency values of 97.22%, 95.83% and 86.11% respectively, while Meloidogyne, Scutellonema, and Pratylenchus were the most abundant nematodes from the root with frequency values of 55.56%, 34.72% and 25.00% respectively,
Reaction of Jatropha curcas accessions; IARJAT2009020, IARJAT2009011, IARJAT2009041 and IARJAT2009016 to infection with 2000 eggs of Meloidogyne incognita was evaluated under controlled environmental conditions in Samaru. There was no significant differences at P=0.05 between the four accessions with respect to
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number of galls/ root at 8 weeks after inoculation and final nematode population count. IARJAT2009016 had the highest galls/ root 10.0 followed by IARJAT2009041with 6.67 galls/ root. However, final population count had IARJAT2009011with 37.27 followed by IARJAT2009016, 28.11 and lowest population 13.50 obtained on IARJAT2009041. Although plant parasitic nematodes were found to be associated with Jatropha curcas on the surveyed areas the pathogenicity test has shown that Meloidogyne incognita is not pathogenic on the Jatropha curcas accessions used. These accessions (IARJAT2009020, IARJAT2009011, IARJAT2009041 and IARJAT2009016) therefore may be used to manage Meloidogyne incognita infected soils in a mixed crop combination.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page …………………………………………………………………………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
Declaration …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ii
Certification ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iii
Dedication …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iv
Acknowledgement ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. v
Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… vi
Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. viii
List of Tables ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. x
List of Figure ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. xii
1.0 INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 1
1.1 Justification ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
1.2 Objectives …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………………………………………………….. 6
2.1 Cultivation Requirements ……………………………………………………………………………………. 6
2.2 Botanical Description of Jatropha ………………………………………………………………………… 6
2.3 World Jatropha Production Pattern …………………………………………………………………….. 7
2.4 Uses of Jatropha ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 7
2.5 Plant Parasitic Nematodes …………………………………………………………………………………… 9
2.6 Jatropha Pests and Diseases Status …………………………………………………………………….. 12
2.7 Disease Complexes Involving Root-Knot Nematodes and Jatropha ……………………… 13
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3.0 MATERIALS AND METHODS …………………………………………………………………………. 14
3.1 Determination of Nematodes Associated with Jatropha Accessions ……………………… 14
3.1.1 Survey of Jatropha farms ……………………………………………………………………………………… 14
3.1.2 Extraction and identification of nematode genera associated with Jatropha ………………… 17
3.2 Determination of Absolute Frequency, Prominence Value and Index of Similarity ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 17
3.3 Determination of Pathogenicity of the Root-Knot Nematode, Meloidogyne incognita ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 18
3.4 Data Collection ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 20
3.5 Data Analysis …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 21
4.0 RESULTS ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 22
5.0 DISCUSSION ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. 47
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ……………………………………….. 50
6.1 Summary …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 50
6.2 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 50
6.3 Recommendations ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 51
REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 52
Appendix …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 59
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CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The term “Jatropha” is usually used to refer to the species Jatropha curcas, although there are approximately 170 known species of the plant (Dehgan, 1984), they include Jatropha integerrima, Jatropha cardiophylla, Jatropha cathartica, Jatropha cinerea, Jatropha cuneata, Jatropha podagrica and Jatropha curcas. It originated from Central America (Jongschaap et al., 2007). It was introduced to Africa and Asia and cultivated world-wide in many parts of the tropics and subtropics where it is grown as a hedge crop and for traditional use (Heller, 1996; Kumar and Sharma, 2008). Jatropha curcas is the most common species recorded in Nigeria. Names used to describe the plant vary per region or country. It is most commonly known as “Physic nut”. In Nigeria it is known as “cinidazugu” “wuluidi” and “lapalapa” in Hausa Igbo and Yoruba languages respectively (Blench, 2007).
Jatropha curcas is a member of the family Euphorbiaceae, a large drought-resistant multipurpose shrub with several attributes and considerable potential and has evoked interest all over the tropics as a potential biofuel crop (Jones and Miller, 1991; Openshaw, 2000). J. curcas has a straight trunk with thick branchlets. It has green leaves with a length and width of 6 cm to 15 cm. Five roots are formed from seeds: one tap root and 4 lateral roots and cuttings do not develop a taproot (Heller, 1996). The branches contain whitish latex, which causes brown stains that are difficult to remove. The fruits is about 40 mm length and contains 3 seeds (on average), which look like black beans with similar dimensions, of about 18 mm long and 10 mm wide. The seed coats constitute about 35~40% of the total seeds (www.jartropha.org). The plant and its seeds are toxic to animals and humans and are therefore used worldwide as hedges to
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protect agricultural fields. It grows on well drained soils with good aeration and is well adapted to marginal soils with low nutrient content. The best time for planting is in the warm season before or at the onset of the rains. In the former case, watering of the plants is required. The recommended spacing for plantation is 2 m to 3 m by 1.5 m to 3 m for plantations (Jones and Miller, 1992). The number of trees per hectare at planting may range from 1100 to 3300. Plant growth is dependent on soil fertility and rainfall. A poor nutrient level will lead to increased failure of seed development (Gubitz et al., 1997). Thus, it is important to maintain soil fertility; this is contrary to statements made in some publications (Mauwa, 1995). Like all perennial plants, it displays vigorous growth at early stage of planting but this will tail off gradually towards maturity. The lifespan is more than 50 years (Openshaw, 2000). Management of Jatropha requires the addition of manure and NPK to the planting hole at 2 kg compost, 20 g urea, 120 g SSP (single super phosphate) and 16 g MOP (muriate of potash) and urea should be applied in two splits (1 and 2 months after transplanting) at 10 g per plant (Singh et al., 1996). Yearly top dressings of fertilizers including the seed cake should be done. The crop has been reported to have nematicidal, insecticidal, molluscidal and fungicidal properties and is expected to be less prone to damage by these pests (Anitha and Varaprasad, 2012). However, reports of pests and diseases outbreak on Jatropha started appearing with large scale cultivation in both marginal and arable lands by agro-industries (Anitha and Varaprasad, 2012).
Just like other agricultural crops, biotic factors also limit optimum production of Jatropha. Marieke et. al., (2012), reported that over 60% of Jatropha plants fell victim to attacks by soil-borne vascular diseases. Biotic factor production constraints of Jatropha include viral, fungi and nematode infections. Nematodes are abundant in the soil, many
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of which are parasites of plants including food crops and causing losses in both quantity and quality (Olabiyi et al., 2009). Plant parasitic nematodes obtain nutrients for development and reproduction from cytoplasm of the living plant cells rendering them weak and causing enormous economic losses (Stirling et al., 2002). They remain a major challenge in crop production in many developing countries including Nigeria (Nicol et al., 2011). Some of the important plant parasitic nematodes are the: Root Lesion Nematodes (Pratylenchus spp.), the Burrowing nematodes (Radopholus spp.) and Cyst nematodes (Heterodera and Globodera spp.). However, the most economically important nematodes, the root-knot (Meloidogyne spp.) are biotrophic which are obligate parasite that induced galls (root-knots) on the roots of their host (Van Megen et al., 2009).
1.1 Justification
Nigeria is among the countries with the largest deposits in hydrocarbons (crude oil and natural gas) and receives considerable revenue from its large multinational oil industry sectors (FGNPB, 2008). The benefits of these resources hardly trickle down to the common man, which is generally poor. Secondly, Nigeria is constantly faced with the global energy crisis characterized by oil glut with its attendant fluctuation in crude oil prices. In addition, the effect of global warming arising from emission of greenhouse gases from fossil foils poses a serious challenge both to Nigeria and the entire world. Given these constraints, the Federal Government of Nigeria has intensified efforts aimed at diversifying the economy by looking for sources of renewable energy and alternative source of revenue (FGNPB, 2008). Jatropha curcas provides this alternative as it has been shown by other countries (Abila, 2011).
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Similarly, Nigeria Government has stepped up efforts to sensitize farmers and other Nigerians towards massive cultivation and growing of Jatropha curcas for bio-fuel production for the country to attain energy security which will at the same time, solve unemployment and poverty challenges in the country. In a bid to make Jatropha cultivation a success in Nigeria, the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) donated a grant of € 70,000 to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to support a detailed feasibility study into high biofuel feedstock for production of automotive fuel (NNPC, 2005). The adoption of Jatropha as a biofuel source holds a diversity of opportunities and potential for Nigeria economy (Abila, 2011), but the extent to which these benefits from Jatropha production will be realized depends on many conditions which include pests and diseases. Pest and diseases have the potential to cause significant constraints on biomass production, putting the crops at risk for reductions in biomass yield and quality. Of many pests and diseases, plant-parasitic nematodes are of great economic importance because they can directly influence plant biomass and predispose plants to attack by other soil-borne pathogens. However, few available reports on pathogenic effects of nematode on Jatropha are confusing. It was reported that pests and diseases do not pose a significant threat to Jatropha, due to the insecticidal and toxic characteristics of all parts of the plant (Heller, 1996) but despite the characteristics of the plant, incidence of pests and diseases has been widely reported under plantation monoculture, and may be of economic significance (Brittaine and Lutaladio, 2010). Since cultivation of Jatropha in Nigeria is gaining prominence, it becomes imperative to characterize the nematodes that are associated with the crop and determine the species that may be pathogenic and therefore economically important to it. This information will be vital in designing
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management strategies that will ensure profitable and sustainable production of Jatropha. It is against this background that this research was conceived.
1.2 Objectives
Study was undertaken with the following objectives:
– to determine the genera of plant parasitic nematodes associated with Jatropha curcas in the selected Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
– to determine the absolute frequency and prominence value of identified nematode genera;
– to determine the pathogenicity of one of the most prominent plant parasitic nematode genera identified on Jatropha curcas.
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