EFFICACY OF TWO ORGANIC AMENDMENTS AND A NEMATICIDE TO MANAGE ROOT-KNOT NEMATODE (Meloidogyne incognita) OF TOMATO (Lycopersicon esculentum L.)

A field experiment was conducted in two consecutive years to find out the efficacy of poultry refuse (PR), mustard oilcake (MOC), and Furadan 5G for the management of root-knot disease (Meloidogyne incognita) of tomato. Soil was treated with PR @ 3 and 5 t/ha, MOC @ 0.3 and 0.6 t/ha 3 weeks before transplanting and Furadan 5G @ 40 kg/ha on the day of transplanting of tomato seedlings. PR @ 3 t/ha and MOC @0.3 t/ha were applied alone and also mixed with Furadan 5G @ 20 kg/ha. The soils of the experimental plots were inoculated with chopped severely galled (M incognita) roots of tomato at the time of treatment application. In both the years, considerable reduction in rootknot disease and increase in plant growth and fruit yield were achieved with different treatments with two organic materials applied alone or mixed with Furadan 5G. The most effective treatment was PR @ 3 t/ha + Furadan 5G @ 20 kg/ha followed by PR alone @ 5 t/ha. Efficacy of PR @ 3 t/ha and MOC @ 0.6 1/ha were also appreciable. In first year and second year, gall index values were 6.50 and 6.27 under control, respectively. The severity was reduced to 2.27-4.00 in first year and 1.73-4.07 in second year due to application of the four treatments. On the other hand, fruit yield under control was 50.9 t/ha at first year and 47.6 t/ha in second year. The highly effective four treatments increased fruit yield to 71.1-82.5 t/ha in first year and 60.8-82.0 t/ha in second year. The fruit yield of tomato was directly and linearly correlated with gall indices in tomato gall. Based on findings of the study PR @ 3 t/ha + Furadan @20 kg/ha and PR alone @ 5 t/ha were noted as effective treatment to manage root-knot disease of tomato.