Studies on <i>Meloidogyne javanica</i> infestation on roma tomato (<i>Lycopersicon esculentum</i> Mill) under different soil amendments

Abstract

The effect of different soil amendments on infestation of Meloidogyne javanica on roma tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) was investigated at the Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu, Nigeria using pot experiment. Completely randomized design was used for experiment and data collected were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). All significant differences observed were separated using Fisher's least significant difference (F-LSD). The parameters measured were plant height (cm) at 50% flowering, number of leaves at 50% flowering, number of fruits per plant at harvest, weight (g) of fresh fruit at harvest, number of galled roots per plant and number of galls per root per plant. The study revealed that there exist significant (P < 0.05) differences among the amendments in the height of plant at 50% flowering, leaf number, number of fruit per plant and number of galls per root per plant. There was no significant (P > 0.05) effect on weight of fresh fruit at harvest and number of galled roots per plant. Results further showed that soil amended with organic materials (poultry droppings, grass ash and Rice husk ash) at the range of 10 to 20 t/ha were good for optimum growth, performance and control of root-knot nematode of tomato. Therefore, farmers are advised to use 20 t/ha for optimum growth and control of root knot nematode on roma tomato.