Protection Methods

As was mentioned earlier, Aphelenchoides ritzemabosi occurs relatively late in fields, a fact that makes this disease control difficult. One may think that once the spots have appeared on the leaves, there is nothing to do. However, it is absolutely necessary to remove plant debris during and at the end of the crop, to avoid the survival of the nematode in the soil.
 
In case of air-cured tobacco, if the curing takes place in the same shelter that will be used to produce seedlings the following year, contamination of the future nursery is possible through plant debris. This situation should be avoided. Otherwise one should disinfect these shelters carefully (follow the recommendations presented in the fact sheet Protection measures to be adopted in the nursery).
 
To control the development of this nematode on floral crops, foliar applications of various insecticides (aldicarb * parathion ...) are often recommended. For the floral crops, the concept of pesticide residues is less important. However on tobacco, such treatments are rarely possible due to the low incidence of the disease. In the case of massive outbreaks, the control measures taken should be discussed with a technical adviser and should only be considered as preventive.
 
This nematode is hosted by a large number of weeds, therefore weed control should be implemented.