Nicaragua

I was invited to a large new golf course/property development in Nicaragua that was suffering from severe plant parasitic nematode damage on the golf greens. The warm season grass species, Paspalum spp., is used on this golf course as cheap saline water can be used for irrigation, but I identified that the irrigation water was nearly pure seawater. This was causing the plant to suffer vastly reduced nutrient uptake, and I helped the Superintendent devise a maintenance programme based on worm compost extracts, humic acids and other natural materials. The nematodes were suppressed and the grass is now able to take up nutrients for healthy growth, despite not being able to use alternative irrigation water.