Crop pest discovered in Louisiana

BATON ROUGE — Scientists have found a fast-reproducing plant pest in Louisiana for the first time — and it’s one that can attack many crops, including soybeans, sugarcane and sweet potatoes, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry said.

The roundworm, called the guava root-rot nematode or Meloidogyne enterolobii, is known to damage varieties of tomato, soybean and sweet potato that are resistant to a related pest, the Southern root-knot nematode.

It was recently confirmed in Morehouse Parish and the Louisiana State University AgCenter will make a statewide survey for it, the department said in a news release Friday.

The species was first identified in this country in 2001 in Florida, on ornamental nursery stock. It was found in 2001 in North Carolina.

“The nematode species is often transported by equipment,” said Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain.