Abstract:
Plant parasitic nematodes are ever-present and are incidental with plant growth and crop
production. They are significant constraints to sustainable agriculture and can be difficult to
control. The objectives of this study were to identify the species of parasitic nematodes from
coffee root and also to determine the abundance of parasitic nematodes that inhabit coffee root
form randomly selected coffee trees in Jimma town, Southwestern Ethiopia. Cross sectional
study on the investigation of plant parasitic nematodes associated with coffee root was carried
out. Six coffee plants were sampled for nematodes. Soil sample of 8 cores was collected.
Nematodes were extracted from 100g soil by using 2 mm, 1 mm and 0.25 mm sieves. The 14
extracted nematodes were counted and identified to order level. Those extracts were found to
belong to 2 orders; Dorylaimida predominated throughout the area (92.9%) and reached the
highest population density of any nematode taxa with 13 nematodes/100 g soil, and followed by
Mononchida (7.1%) with 1 nematode/100 g soil. No plant-parasitic nematodes were recovered.
This research concluded that free-living nematodes are most abundant in coffee field soils.
Finally, it was recommended that assessment on plant parasitic nematodes should be established
through collection and relation with symptoms, and with expert help accurately identifying the
species involved.
