The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of intercropping and management of Brachiaria decumbens cv. 'Basilisk' in coffee (Coffea arabica cv. 'Catuai vermelho') infested withPratylenchus brachyurus (Pb), under greenhouse conditions. The treatments with five replicates were: 1. Coffee without Pb; 2. Coffee without Pb and intercropped with B. decumbens; 3. Coffee inoculated with 5000 juveniles and adults Pb per pot (10L) kept in clean; 4. Coffee inoculated with Pb intercropped with B. decumbens pruned weekly; 5. Coffee inoculated with Pb intercropped with B. decumbens with application of the herbicide glyphosate. At 3, 4, 7, 10 and 11 months after transplantation of coffee plants ,there was a significant increase in the height of coffee plants without nematode kept in clean, compared with treatments with coffee in infested soil with Pb intercropped with B. decumbens pruned and coffee in soil infested with Pb intercropped with B. decumbens with application of glyphosate. In the final evaluation, 278 days after inoculation , the dry weight of shoots in treatments with Pb and brachiaria and application of glyphosate were significantly lower when compared with untreated plants without nematode and intercropping. The weight of fresh roots, was significantly lower in all treatments compared to the control untreated plot. and without intercropping. The final population of P. brachyurus in roots was greater when coffee was intercropped with B. decumbens
Lesion-nematode; Coffea Arabica; cover crop; population densities
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