Pathogenicity of <i>Meloidogyne</i> species on tomato (<i>Solanum lycopersicum</i>) in soil amended with different sources of green manure in Ishiagu, Southeast Nigeria

Abstract

Pathogenicity of root-knot nematodes on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in soil amended with different sources of green manure was investigated at the research and teaching farm of Federal College of Agriculture Ishiagu, Ebonyi State, Nigeria, during the 2022 and 2023 cropping seasons. Hedge fig plants, African peach plants, and banana leaves at 10t/ha were used as green manure sources while the control plots did not receive any treatment. The experimental design used was a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with the four treatments replicated three times. Growth and yield parameters were evaluated from plant height, number of leaves, number of fruits, and weight of fruit at harvest while disease parameters were obtained from number of galled roots and number of galls per root. Data collected were averaged over the two cropping seasons and analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and
significant treatment means were separated using least significant difference (LSD). All inferences were made at a 5% level of probability. The results showed that the treatments significantly (P<0.05) increased the plant heights at 6 and 9 weeks after transplanting. The treatments did not have any significant (P>0.05) effect on the number of leaves produced by the plants. The number and weight of fruits at harvest were significantly (P<0.05) increased by the treatments. The number of galled roots was significantly (P<0.05) reduced at the application of hedge plant leaves at 10 t/ha while there was no significant (P>0.05) effect on the gall index of the treatments at harvest when compared with other treatments and it was recommended for tomato farmers as an alternative to inorganic nematicide .