Nematodes are worms that are easily identified by stunted growth, root knots in vegetables and are not killed by fungicide and insecticides since they live in soil and plant roots were they complete their life cycle.
Nematode lifecycle
Eggs are laid outside root nodes in which small worms hatch and infest roots using pointed mouth parts reducing water and nutrient uptake.
Preventive measures
Grow resistant healthy seedlings from trusted dealers. Remove all roots from seedbed and burn them while applying manure or compost to revive soil. Additionally destroy all nematode sources, plough soil to expose nematodes to sun, remove weeds and uproot infested plants to reduce nematode food sources. Ensure regular field inspection to observe and destroy infested plants as well as ensuring crop rotation with resistant crops to break the disease life cycle. When moving from one field to another, clean tools, wash feet properly, lastly slow down speed of water run off by forming soil mounts and trap crops to prevent disease spread.
