Using Color Infrared Aerial Photography to Study Cotton Fields Infested with Meloidogyne incognita. D. Orion, Division of Nematology, Institute of Plant Protection, Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center, Bet Dagan 50 250, Israel. Blanca Nessim-Bistritsky and R. Hochberg, Division of Remote Sensing, Extension Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Tel Aviv, Israel. Plant Dis. 66:105-108. Accepted for publication 21 April 1981. Copyright 1982 American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-66-105.

Color infrared photographs of fields of cotton during three successive years of growth were used as a technique in a survey to detect areas infested with the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita. On the photographs, nematode infestation appeared as irregular areas characterized by exposed soil and dense weed vegetation. The center of a highly nematode-infested area was characterized by lack of vegetation or by thin rows of cotton, which could also be seen along the margins of the area. Photographs taken at the end of the cotton-growing season gave a better image of the infested area than photographs taken earlier in the season. The rate of nematode spread according to the photographs averaged 25–50%/yr.

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