STRAWBERRY CERTIFICATION:

A certification program for strawberry nursery stock has been in place in California for many years to assure fruit production planting stock is free of nematodes. Foliar nematode (Aphelenchoides fragariae) and root-knot nematode (particularly Meloidogyne hapla) have been the nematodes of most concern in California. Plants from nursery fields (photo) are sampled on a 40 x 40 foot grid (conveniently using sprinkler pipes for spacing). If infested plants are found, the area of infestation is delimited by additional sampling. This graph prepared from California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) records demonstrates how an effective nursery inspection program can improve the cleanliness of nursery stock. When the nursery program was first initiated, infestations of foliar nematode were relatively common. Recently, in some years, no infestations have been found. Unfortunately, this situation has led some officials to feel the program is no longer needed. Economically, in a state suffering severe budget problems, it is hard to justify using public funds to support a program which appears to yield only negative results. Fortunately, after much discussion, funding for the program has been changed from public to private sources.

In contrast to strawberry fruit production fields which are maintained in well defined rows,strawberry nursery fields at the time of harvest are a mass of entertwined foliage. Symptoms of foliar nematode on strawberries are not well defined and not easy to spot in a nursery production field. In this photo, a healthy plant is on the left and a plant infested with A. fragariae is on the right. In addition to stunting, note the differences in fruiting and flowering between the two plants.

Click here if you want to review the biology of FOLIAR NEMATODE, APHELENCHOIDES FRAGARIAE

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