Effect of Emamectin Benzoate on Root-Knot Nematodes and Tomato Yield.

Xingkai Cheng,Kang Qiao,Min Wei,Xiumei Liu,Hongyan Wang,Xiaoxue Ji,Kaiyun Wang,Zhihui Cheng

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0141235

Abstract

Southern root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) is an obligate, sedentary endoparasite of more than 3000 plant species, that causes heavy economic losses and limit the development of protected agriculture of China. As a biological pesticide, emamectin benzoate has effectively prevented lepidopteran pests; however, its efficacy to control M. incognita remains unknown. The purpose of the present study was to test soil application of emamectin benzoate for management of M. incognita in laboratory, greenhouse and field trials. Laboratory results showed that emamectin benzoate exhibited high toxicity to M. incognita, with LC50 and LC90 values 3.59 and 18.20 mg L-1, respectively. In greenhouse tests, emamectin benzoate soil application offered good efficacy against M. incognita while maintaining excellent plant growth. In field trials, emamectin benzoate provided control efficacy against M. incognita and resulted in increased tomato yields. Compared with the untreated control, there was a 36.5% to 81.3% yield increase obtained from all treatments and the highest yield was received from the highest rate of emamectin benzoate. The results confirmed that emamectin benzoate has enormous potential for the control of M. incognita in tomato production in China.

Highlights

Southern root-knot (Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White, 1919) Chitwood, 1949) is one of the most economically important plant-parasitic nematode species that can attack the roots of more than 3000 agricultural crops
Caboni et al [13] reported the nematicidal activity of mint aqueous extracts against M. incognita, and the results showed that mint species containing reactive carbonyl compounds had potential use as bionematicides
None of the immobile J2 recuperated in water, proving that emamectin benzoate tested act as a nematicide

Summary

Introduction

Southern root-knot (Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White, 1919) Chitwood, 1949) is one of the most economically important plant-parasitic nematode species that can attack the roots of more than 3000 agricultural crops. M. incognita plays a vital role in the predisposition of the host plant to invasion by secondary pathogens, resulting in significant yield losses [1,2,3,4]. In Shandong, China, a large vegetable producing province, root-knot is an important disease [5]. About half of greenhouse-grown vegetables are infected by M. incognita with an annual loss estimated to be more than $400 million [6]. Over the last few decades synthetic nematicides, especially the fumigant nematicides, have been the most important means to control M. incognita, but their uses have recently been restricted. Many products (e.g., methyl bromide) are no longer available to growers because

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