Abstract

Biofumigation is a promising method used in organic agriculture to control plant parasitic nematodes (Kirkegaard et al., 1993). The use of Brassicacea green manures amendments is one of the potential biofumigation practices. However, efficacy of the green manures differs under Brassica species. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Raphanus sativus cv. Defender, R. sativus cv. Boss and Sinapis alba green manures on tomato plants infested by the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita, the most dangerous nematode pest in Tunisia as well as in all the Mediterranean countries. Experiment was carried in 12 L pots under controlled conditions with a randomized design. Pots were filled with sterilized soil and artificially infested with M. incognita (10 eggs ml-1 soil). The two R. sativus cultivars and S. alba were sown at densities normally used under field conditions, 30 and 15 Kg ha-1, respectively. At flowering, green biomass of each species was finely chopped and rapidly incorporated into the soil. Biomass incorporation rates ranged from 5 kg m-² for S. alba to 2,5 - 3,5 kg m-² for R. sativus cultivars. Three tomato (cv Roma) seedlings were transplanted in each pot 15 days after biomass incorporation. Tomato plants were uprooted 2 months later and plant growth and nematode parameters were evaluated. Plant height, fresh and dry top weight and root weight were recorded to evaluate the effect of each green manure on tomato plant growth. Roots were indexed for severity of root galling on a 0 to 5 scale (Taylor and Sasser, 1978). Eggs were extracted for counting from roots (Hussey and Barker, 1973) and soil (Coolen, 1979) to determine the total final population of Meloidogyne incognita. Results indicate that R. sativus green manure is more suppressive on M. incognita than S. alba and that cv. Defender is more effective than cv Boss. Compared to the nontreated control, green manure with R. sativus cv Defender resulted in a 62% increase of tomato plant growth and in a 64,5 and 41% suppression of M. incognita root galling and soil population density, respectively. In addition to the poor nematode-suppressiveness, S. alba green manure also caused phytotoxicity on tomato plants, probably related to the large biomass incorporated into the soil. This study demonstrated that R. sativus green manures could represent a valuable tool for a sustainable root-knot nematode management and that care should be taken to select the most effective cultivar. Further experiments are needed to determine the more appropriate time and rates for green biomass incorporation, in order to maximize the nematode suppression avoiding phytotoxicity problems.

Autore Pugliese

• D'addabbo Trifone

Tutti gli autori

• Guesmi I.; D'Addabbo T.; Radicci V.; Horrigue-Raouani N.

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Anno di pubblicazione

2013

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