EFFICACY OF DIFFERENT APPLICATION RATE OF PURPUREOCILLIUM LILACINUM AGAINST DIFFERENT INOCULUM DENSITY OF ROOT-KNOT NEMATODE (MELOIDOGYNE INCOGNITA) OF TOMATO

Abstract

The effectiveness of different dose of Purpureocillium lilacinum was evaluated against tomato root knot pathogen Meloidogyne incognita at different level. The pot experiment was conducted over two months in shade house on tomato crops, cv. BARI Tomato-14. Pots treated with different doses (0, 1×10

and 5×10 5 CFU/g soil)

of P. lilacinum during transplanting of tomato. After three days different inoculum density (0, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 eggs per 100 g soil) of M. incognita inoculated against each doses. The optimum dose against nematode protection was considered at concentration of 5×10 4 CFU/g soil where other doses gave statistically similar result. A significant correlation was recorded between doses of P. lilacinum and inoculum level of M. incognita. P. lilacinum at lower rate (5×10 4 CFU/g soil) reduced root galling by 76.53% when 250 eggs of M. incognita were inoculated per 100 g soil. The highest reduction of number of egg masses per root and reproduction factor (Rf) by 91.13 and 79.32%, respectively was observed when 2000 eggs per 100 g soil was challenged by 5×10 4 CFU/g soil of P. lilacinum. However, highest colonization rate of egg masses by bioagent was observed at 5×10 5 CFU/g soil with about 45.19% when pots inoculated with 1000 eggs per 100 g soil. The experiment demonstrated that P. lilacinum was effective in suppression of root knot nematode on BARI Tomato14 and can be an important component of eco-friendly management strategies

4 , 5×10 4 , 1×10 5