Management of root-knot, Meloidogyne incognita in tomatoes using medicinal plant-based compost

Abstract

Sedentary vascular endoparasite Root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, is the major pest of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.). As M. incognita is a polyphagous pest, it is very difficult to manage unless proper monitoring from the planting. Therefore, this research was aimed at managing root-knot nematode with different medicinal plant composts to reduce hazards of chemical application. Leaves of lantana (Lantana camara), cotton seed (Gossypium hirsutum), castor seed (Ricinus communis), neem oil cake (Azadirachta indica), marigold flower (Tagetes erecta), tamarind leaf (Tamarindus indica), avaram flower (Alexandrian senna) were mixed with fresh cow dung in 1:1 ratio separately and allowed to decompose for one month. Derived compost was tested for its nutritional quality (N-Kjeldhal method, P-Spectophotometer method, K- flame photometer method). All the experiments for eight treatments including the control treatment were carried out under a Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with three replicates. Data were subjected to ANOVA using SAS statistical software. In the NPK analysis of each compost, the highest significant nitrogen value (4.81%) was recorded in neem cake and the highest phosphorus content (2.6%) was recorded in cotton-based compost. The highest potassium value (7.9%) was recorded in tamarind-based compost. All the plant-based compost showed the lowest gall formation in varying degrees compared to the control. Although, the number of root galls was significantly low in castor compost (6.00 ± 0.2). The results confirmed that the castor, marigold, neem cake, and cotton plant-based compost stimulated the plant height, and reduced the nematode infestation. Lantana has a significant effect on plant growth parameters however the number of galls was high (20.6 ± 0.3) in Lantana. Nematicidal properties of castor, marigold, neem cake, and cotton-based compost need to be investigated in future studies.