Studies on Feeding Guilds of Soil and Plant Parasitic Nematodes in Banana Plantation of West Bengal, India

During an ecological investigation, 14 species of soil and plant parasitic nematodes were encountered from rhizosphere of a banana plantation in West Bengal, India. Of these, 8 species belong to the order Dorylaimida and 6 species were under the order Tylenchida. The species are categorized into four feeding guilds viz. plant feeder, bacterial feeder, predator and omnivore. Numerically plant feeders constituted 46%, bacterial feeders 10%, predator 11% and omnivores constituted 33% of nematodes in the field. The study revealed that plant parasitic nematodes predominated in the banana field over others. Rotylenchulus reniformis, one of the most serious pests of banana appears to be the most abundant species in the field.