The overall objective of this work is to develop and test concepts and technologies for site-specific detection and control of plant-parasitic nematodes with the aim of optimizing farm profit while minimizing the effect of production practices on the environment. Nematodes cause over $250 million in yield losses to cotton in the United States each year. Farmers usually apply one rate of a nematicide across an entire field to protect their crop from these nematodes. However, nematodes are not uniformly distributed within fields, and there may be substantial acreage in most fields where nematodes are either not present, or are not an economic concern. Applying a nematicide at one rate over the entire field can be both costly and inefficient.

Using soil electrical conductivity to predict the distribution of soil textures and nematodes within a field is achievable in a sandy or loamy sand soil type. This will allow placement of nematicides in portions of the field with soil textures that have the highest probability of containing significant levels of specific nematode species, which are being targeted for control.

There was a strong positive correlation between increasing incidence of Columbia lance nematode with increased sand content both at planting and at harvest. An increase of nine percent in clay content of the sandy loam soil resulted in a 57% reduction in nematode population density. Ring nematodes were recovered in significant numbers both at planting and at harvest only from plots with the highest levels of sand.