Interaction Effect of Soilless Media and Organic Amendments for Eco-Friendly Root-Knot Nematode Management in Brinjal and Tomato Nursery

Ambuj Bhardwaj,Vijay Bhardwaj,B.K Goswami,Abhishek Sharma

doi:10.22207/jpam.15.1.30

Abstract

Brinjal and tomato are the most important transplanted vegetable crops of the Solanaceae family. The successful cultivation of these crops is vital for meeting the nutritional dietary requirement of India’s population and earning foreign exchange for the country by exporting vegetables to foreign countries. However, there are several abiotic and biotic impediments in the cultivation of these crops. Among biotic impediments , plant-parasitic nematodes have become one of the critical factor adversely affecting the cultivation of these vegetables. In general, Meloidogyne spp. (root-knot nematode) is the most common, widespread and economically damaging plant parasitic nematode species in tomato and brinjal crop. In addition to the damage caused by root – knot nematode, it stimulates the entry of soil-borne pathogens leading to development of the disease complex. The present study was undertaken to study the interaction effect of soil & soilless growing media viz. cocopeat and vermicompost along with organic amendments i.e., Trichoderma, AM fungus, and Cabbage residue incorporated individually as well as in different combinations for eco-friendly root-knot nematode management in brinjal and tomato nursery. The results indicated that treatment C-8 (Cocopeat + Trichoderma + AM fungus + Cabbage residues) recorded the superior germination count, germination percentage, days to 50% germination, root length, shoot length, fresh weight, root weight, shoot weight and root: shoot ratio. It is pertinent to mention that the soilless media, along with various organic amendments, were found to be superior for all the root and shoot attributes as compared to the conventional soil media for growing healthy nursery of tomato and brinjal in root knot nematode infested geographies. Our findings provide an effective and sustainable method of growing healthy plant nursery in nematode infested regions.

Highlights

Brinjal (Solanum melongena) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) are important transplanted vegetable crops of Solanaceae family grown in subtropics and tropics
The minimum number of gall per 10 seedlings was recorded in Soil + T. harzianum + arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus + Cabbage residue treatment followed by Soil + T. harzianum + Cabbage residue
It is evident from the results of treatment having more than one organic amendment were superior in comparison to the treatments having single organic amendment

Summary

Introduction

Brinjal (Solanum melongena) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) are important transplanted vegetable crops of Solanaceae family grown in subtropics and tropics. In India, tomato is cultivated in 786 thousand hectares, with a total production of 19377 thousand metric tonnes. Brinjal is cultivated in 736 thousand hectares, with a total of 12826 thousand metric tonnes (Anonymous, 2018). The successful cultivation of these crops is vital for meeting out dietary nutritional requirement of the India’s population as well as for earning foreign exchange by exporting vegetables to other countries. Plant parasitic nematodes are well known to cause adverse impact to cultivation and thereby causing financial losses to the farmers. The root-knot nematodes attacks on brinjal and tomato crops in the nursery stage resulting in poor plant stand, reduced quality and low production (Manjunatha et al, 2017). The root-knot nematode stimulates the entry of other soil borne pathogens leading to the development of disease complex. (Khan & Sharma, 2020)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion