Bahiagrass for the Management of Root-Knot and Cyst Nematodes in Soybean

The effect of rotation with bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) on soybean (Glycine max) yields and end-of-season (2 weeks before soybean harvest) soil populations of root-knot (Meloidogyne arenaria) and cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines, race 4) was studied in a field in Baldwin county, Alabama. Soybean cvs. Braxton, Centennial, Gordon, Kirby, Leflore, Ransom, and Stonewall were planted in plots that had been planted to 'Pensacola' bahiagrass for the previous 2 years and in others that had been in monoculture with soybean. In each of the two cropping systems each cultivar was planted in plots treated at planting with the 15G formulation of aldicarb (41.4 g a.i./100 m of row in a 20-cm-wide band) and without a nematicide. For all cultivars the nematicide treatment did not increase yield or affect second-stage juvenile populations of either M. arenaria or H. glycines. Yields of all cultivars were higher in the bahiagrass-soybean plots than in those in the soybean monoculture. Yield respons