Control of nematode disease of egg plant (Solanum aethiopicum) using manure

Abstract

Pot experiment was conducted in the year 2010 and repeated in 2011 to examine the effects of organic manure (poultry, cow dung and domestic waste) and inorganic manure (NPK 15:15:15) on the yield, soil and root population of Meloidogyne incognita-infected Ethiopian egg plant Solanum aethiopicum in a greenhouse at Kabba college of agriculture, Ahmadu Bello University, Kabba, Nigeria. Each of the organic manure was applied as soil amendment at the rate of 5t/ha and the inorganic fertiliser (NPK) was applied at the rate of 200 kg/ha, while there was an untreated control that acted as standard check. The experimental design was a completely randomised design comprising of five treatments including control and each of the treatments was replicated four times. The result of the experiment showed that all the organic manures considered and NPK fertilisers were effective in suppressing the nematode’s negative effects on the plant, as shown by the improved yield, reduced soil and root population as well as reduced gall index of the organic and inorganic manure-treated plant compared with the control. The mean fruit yield of the manure-treated plant was of the range 18 ± 1 fruits and NPK fertiliser had an average of fruit number of 17, while the untreated control recorded an average fruit number of 6.5. The organic and inorganic manure-treated plants recorded bigger fruit size compared with control, and are significantly different from the control. The soil and root population as well as root gall index are reduced in all the manure treatments compared with the control and are significantly different from the control. The result of this experiment confirmed that organic manure can be utilised to manage nematode in soil endemic with root-knot nematode M. incognita.