The use of forage grass in integrated crop-livestock systems has been increasingly frequent in Brazil. However, some forage genotypes may host plant parasitic nematodes, contributing to the maintenance of large populations of these organisms in the soil. This study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the reaction of accessions and cultivars of Brachiaria spp. (B. ruziziensis, B. brizantha cvs. BRS Piatã and BRS Paiaguás, B. humidicola cv. BRS Tupi, and the genotypes B4 and HBGC 331) and Panicum maximum (cvs. Tanzânia-1 and Massai, and the genotypes PM32, PM36, PM45 and PM46) to Pratylenchus brachyurus. Corn BRS-2020 (susceptible) and millet ADR-300 (resistant) were used as controls. The experiments were conducted in a greenhouse at Embrapa Beef Cattle, Campo Grande-MS, in randomized blocks with seven replicates, from May to September 2011 and from March to May 2012. Five plants per pot were inoculated with 1,000 specimens of P. brachyurus. After 90 days, nematode populations in the roots and the soil were evaluated to obtain the final nematode population and the reproduction factor (RF). The reaction of genotypes in relation to the percentage of reduction in the RF was also assessed. Except for B. humidicola cv. BRS Tupi, which showed RF of 0.98 and 0.44 in the first and in the second experiments, respectively, all evaluated materials allowed the nematode multiplication. Regarding the percentage of reduction in the RF, only B. humidicola cv. BRS Tupi and millet ADR-300 were classified as moderately resistant, showing reductions of up to 90.58% and 94.73% in the first and in the second experiment, respectively. Most of the studied forage genotypes were susceptible to P. brachyurus, Even though the susceptibility degree varied among them. Thus, in areas with history of the presence of P. brachyurus, B. humidicola cv. BRS Tupi can be indicated for integrated and/or crop rotation system as a management strategy to reduce P. brachyurus population.
integrated crop-livestock; forage grass; root lesion nematode
