Abstract

A study was conducted during October 2018 to September 2019 at the Department of Nematology, B. N. College of Agriculture, Biswanath Chariali, Assam to record the plant parasitic nematodes associated with banana plantation in north bank plain agroclimatic zone of Assam. Analysis of nematode communities revealed the presence of several plant parasitic nematodes, of which Meloidogyne incognita and Helicotylenchus dihystera were predominant and encountered in all the samples with cent per cent frequency. Lower frequency was recorded in case of Pratylenchus sp. (30%). M. incognita recorded the highest density of 387.50 followed by H. dihystera (287.50). Among the community of plant parasitic nematodes M. incognita was the most prominent (PV=39.95) followed by H. dihystera (PV=29.64). Pratylenchus sp. was least prominent (1.09). Therefore, it could be concluded that M. incognita was the most frequent and dominant species in the entire nematode community associated with the rhizosphere of the banana and responsible for significant reduction in yield.