Efficacy of Organic Soil Amendments and a Nematicide for Management of Root-Knot Nematode <i>Meloidogyne</i> Spp. of Onion

Abstract

Field experiments were conducted in 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 planting seasons to evaluate the efficacy of different sources of organic materials and a nematicide Furadan 5G in the control of Meloidogyne incognita infection on the major spices onion, Allium cepa L. The organic materials (poultry refuse, mustard oil cake, rice bran and sawdust) were incorporation with the soil 3 weeks before transplanting of onion seedlings whereas Tricho-composts were added in the soils 5 days before seedling transplanting. The results showed that different organic materials displayed varying levels of effective to the nematode infection. All the treatments gave satisfactory reduction of gall development on roots and increased plant growth as well as yield of onion. Among the treatments, Tricho-composts and poultry refuse appeared to be the best amendments for root knot nematode reduction and significantly influenced the growth of the onion with the highest yield. Saw dust, rice bran and nematicide Furadan 5G were also proved to be better amendment for reduction of root knot nematode which enhanced plant growth and increased yield of onion. These results suggest that exploitation of organic soil amendment in nematode management would be a useful control measure in onion production in Bangladesh.