The distribution and density of rice white tip nematoda (Aphelenchoides besseyi christie, Aphelenchida: Aphelenchoididae) in rice planting areas of eastern black sea region of turkey

The most widely spreading nematode species is rice white tip nematode (Aphelenchoides besseyi) causing economic losses in rice production areas in Turkey. It was aimed to determine the distribution and population density of rice white tip nematode in rice growing areas of Samsun, Sinop, Çorum, and Kastamonu as a first time in this study. For this purpose, in August 2009, rice samples were collected by making systematic sampling from 102 areas where rice production was made in Samsun, Sinop, Çorum and Kastamonu provinces in Eastern Black Sea Region of Turkey. The Whitehead tray method was used to determine the nematodes in the laboratory samples. As a result of the laboratory studies, 7 of 102 samples were found to be infested with different population levels of rice white nematode. Kastamonu province was the highest infected with 13,3%, while Sinop, Samsun, and Çorum were found as 8,33%, 5,88% and 4,54% infested respectively. When considering the population density of sampling areas where nematode is detected, it is observed that Laçin county (Çorum provinces) was the densest with 18 nematodes and Osmancık (Çorum) with 13 nematodes per 100 g of paddy seed.