Plant Parasitic Nematodes, Serious but Most Trivialized Biotic Challenge against Food Security: A spotlight on their Management for Sustainable Agriculture and Public Health

Abstract

Though the majority of soil dwelling nematodes are free living organisms, agricultural land use or farming systems, such as continuous cropping and monocultures, can disrupt soil health and lead to the accumulation of plant parasitic nematodes (PPNs) in soils. The activities of these tiny, parasitic, soil-dwelling organisms typically interfere with the anatomy and physiology of affected organs in a wide range of susceptible crops. Unsuspecting farmers usually attribute symptoms of such attacks, such as chlorosis, stunted growth, wilting and tipping-over and so on – to other biotic and abiotic causes. Large losses of valuable nutrient elements including protein, carbohydrates, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, zinc, iron, and gross yield associated with the damaged crop are also misrepresented or attributed to other factors. These declines in biomass accumulation and nutrient composition, taken combined, contributed significantly to increases in both hidden and visible hunger, which remains a serious public health issue in tropical landscapes, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Simple crop and soil management techniques in low-input agriculture, such as crop rotation, the use of resistant root stocks or varieties, biological and phytochemical control approaches, the use of agro-waste, and so on, are discussed in this paper in order to reduce or keep PPNs populations below damage thresholds for sustainable food production and environmental health.