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Among the crops origininated from the american continent with a major role on the global food production,

the corn (Zea mays L.), since its Discovery by the European settlers, has proved to be an excellent nutritional source, as a highly energetic cereal, providing fibers and B complex vitamins. Its role as component of the human and animal diet is exacerbated by the high adaptability of the species, which is capable of cultivation from sea level to mountainous regions, present in a wide variety of climatic conditions (Matos et al. 2006). The recent intensification of the search for alternative and renewable energy has sparked an even greater increase in the production of these cereals, so that the manufacturing of ethanol and more recently, biodiesel(LIMA et al., 2010), does not result in a fall in the supply of this plant for food. One possible impediment to the future growth of corn production in Brazil during the year 2011, which according to CONAB exceeded 57 million tons, would be the steady population increase of P. zeae in their traditional cultivation areas, such population increase is masked by the high tolerance of the plant to the nematode, thanks to an extensive and vigorous root system, the tolerance factor is, however, finite and that in this case, may be close to being reached(INOMOTO, 2010).

To avoid reaching such limit, one should make use of management techniques aimed at reducing the population of plant-parasitic soilborne nematodes, in spite of the large number of tools available for such a task, the most effective of these are generally more expensive from an economic point of view, requiring major concessions or sacrifices from the producer, like the rotation of crops with nonhost plants or the use of resistant cultivars of lower productivity or higher cost. To circumvent this problem one possible alternative is the use of treated seeds, which requires little change in the routine work of the farmer without raising the costs of production to unthinkable values. (Brito, 2010).

Regarding the plant parasitic nematode in study, their polyphagous feeding habit makes the crop rotation practice all the more complicated, given its ability to feed on and reproduce using a broad range of hosts, other viable plant hosts the following species: sorghum, sugarcane , rice, cover crops, invasive grasses and millet.

The crops mentioned above have proven to be favorable hosts, given that even under low to moderate infestations of the nematode they are able to provide ways to the parasite reproduction, resulting in a steady population growth. (PROT & AUNG 1990). Thus adding further importance to the seed treatment as an additional tool for the control of nematode.

Motivated by the nematicide potential of the active principle of some pesticides used in the treatment of seeds already in the market, abamectin for instance, is a substance capable of causing a dramatic reduction on populations of Meloidogyne incognitana cotton crop (BESSI, 2010), therefore, this study aims to analyze the efficiency of abamectin, imidacloprid / thiodicarb and thiamethoxam when applied in the treatment of corn seeds in order to minimize population levels of P. zeae, thus providing scientific data to analyze the feasibility of implementing these treated seeds with this purpose.

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