<b>Management of root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita on tomato with botanicals</b>

Abstract

A field experiment was conducted for the management of <i style="">Meloidogyne incognita</i> infecting tomato with five botanicals, viz. leaves of <b style=""><i style="">Calotropis gigantea </i>(Linn.) R. Br.<i style=""> ex </i>Ait.<i style=""> </i>,<i style=""> Tagetes erecta </i>Linn.</b><i style=""> </i>and <b style=""><i style="">Azadirachta indica </i>A. Juss.</b><i style=""> </i>; seeds of <b style=""><i style="">Citrullus lanatus </i>( Thunb.) Matsumura & Nakai</b><i style=""> </i>and <b style=""><i style="">Areca catechu </i>Linn.</b><i style=""> </i>Results showed statistically significant increase in both seed germination as well as seedling establishment in all the treatments when compared with control. Seed treatment with dry powder of <b style=""><i style="">C. gigantea</i></b><i style=""> </i>leaves gave the highest germination (98.0%) and high percentage of established seedlings (99.6%). Root dip treatment with leaf extract of <b style=""><i style="">C. gigantea</i></b><i style=""> </i>resulted in significant reduction of the soil nematode population at 45 days after transplanting and at harvest (87.3% and 90.0%, respectively) and lowest gall index (1.7) with increase in fruit yield, 23.9%.