Reaction of Chickpea Germplasm Lines against Root-knot Nematode, Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White) Chitwood and its Management using Bioagents under Field Condition

Abstract

Background: Chickpea (Cicer arietinum) is one of the most important food legumes grown worldwide. Its cultivation in India is hampered considerably due to regular occurrence of root knot nematode and reported to reduce the chickpea yield by 9-40%. Methods: The present study was conducted to evaluate some chickpea germplasm for resistance against root knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita. The field experiment was also conducted for the management of root-knot nematode infesting chickpea with seven treatments including an untreated control. Mainly the experiment was conducted to check the efficacy of some biopesticides. Result: The screening result revealed that none of the germplasm was found highly resistant against the root knot nematode, however three germplasms exhibited moderately resistant reaction having root gall index between 2.1 to 3.0. All the treatments were significantly superior over the untreated control in reducing the root-knot nematode population, gall index and increasing yield of chickpea at termination. However, soil application of Pseudomonas fluorescens @ 20 g/m2 + Neem cake @ 100 g/m2 was found to be the most effective in reducing root-knot nematode population (47.88%) and increasing the yield of chickpea (50.20%) at termination. This was followed by soil application of Perpureocillium lilacinum @ 20 g/m2 + Neem Cake @ 100 g/m2. The reduction in root knot nematode population and increase of yield over control were 37.46% and 36.40% respectively.