Survey of Tomato-Wilt Diseases on Rained-Grown Tomatoes in South-Western Nigeria

The survey of tomato wilt endemic areas of Ogun, Oyo, Edo and Delta States was conducted between June, 1996 and August1997. The participatory rural appraisal approach was adopted in interactions with farmers. The sampling in interactions with farmers. The sampling techniques were both quantitative (for fungi and bacteria) and qualitative (for nematode sampling. Identification of causative organisms was based on defined morphological characters. Observation showed that the disease was associated with seed sources, tomato varieties in-use cropping systems/patterns and the approach to disease management. The frequency of pseudomonas solanocearum (predominant bacterium) ranged from 32% to 100% while Meloidogvne incognita recorded the highest incidence level of between 69% and 96% across the sampled locations. The occurrence of other identified pathogenic organisms also vary with location.