The Sugarcane Nematode Problem

A paper presented to this Association in 1961 summarised the results of investigations, carried out during the previous four years, on the r81e of nematodes in South African sugarcane fields.' This prqiect has continued to receive attention, and the present paper is an attempt at summarising and generalising upon the results of more recent investigations. Since much of the experimental work involved has been described in Annual Reports of the Experiment Station, it is unnecessary to repeat details such as counts of nematodes and yields of cane obtained from particular nematocide trials, although a few are quoted as examples. If a single generalisation could be made at this stage, it would probably be that, despite investigations here and in other countries, the rdle of nematodes in sugarcane fields remains in many aspects a problem.