RELATIONSHIP OF MELOIDOGYNE-KONAENSIS POPULATION-DENSITIES TO COFFEE GROWTH

Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) shoot and root growth as affected by Meloid ogyne konaensis was determined under greenhouse and field conditions. The greenhouse test involved five coffee cultivars: Guatemalan, S. L. 28, Guadalupe, Mundo Novo, and Red Bourbon. Meloidogyne konaensis dama ged all coffee cultivars under greenhouse conditions. Shoot growth was suppressed at all inoculum densities (150-18,750 eggs per plant). Dry shoot and root weights were negatively correlated with the log(10)(Pi + 1) of M. konaensis. Minimum predicted shoot height and dry shoot an d root weights were 35.2, 7.6, and 10.1% of the maximum predicted leve ls, respectively. Growth of cultivar Guatemalan and Guatemalan as a sc ion on Deweveri rootstock was characterized in a field naturally infes ted with M. konaensis. A negative linear regression relationship (r = 0.95) existed between the population density of this nematode and perc ent increase in coffee height in the field.