Nematicidal and fertilizing effects of chicken manure, fresh and composted olive mill wastes on organic melon

Abstract

The fertilizing and nematicidal effects of three organic amendments were evaluated in a pot experiment on melon plants infested by the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita. A soil artificially infested with 4 eggs and juveniles/ ml soil of the nematode was amended with: a) virgin olive pomace (VOP); b) composted olive pomace (COP); c) chicken manure based fertilizer (CM) and d) chicken manure based fertilizer combined with the biological control agent Paecilomyces lilacinus strain 251, brand name BioAct WG (CMB). VOP was applied at doses of 11 (VOP-A), 22 (VOP-B) and 44 t/ha (VOP-C); COP at 4.5 (COP-A), 9 (COP-B) and 18 t/ha (COP-C); CM at 3 t/ha and CMB at 3 t/ha combined with 4 kg/ha of BioAct WG. Untreated soil was used as control. The treatments CM, CMB, VOP-B and COP-B were established on the basis of N requirement of melon plants (120 kg/ha) taking into account soil and amendments N availability. Two weeks later amendment application and nematode inoculation, the soil was poured in 4.8 l clay pots which were arranged in a greenhouse according to a randomized block design with ten replications for each treatment. A one-month old melon seedling (cv. Galia) was transplanted in each pot and organic farming management practices were used during the growing period. At the end of the experiment, 60 days after transplant, plants were uprooted and height, fresh and dry shoot and root weights were recorded. Root gall index, on the roots, caused by the nematode attack, was estimated according to a 0–5 scale. Final nematode population density and reproduction rate were also calculated for each pot. All data were subjected to statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means compared according to Least Significant Difference’s Test. Nematode population and root infestation were significantly suppressed by the addition of all amendments, compared to untreated control. However, CM and CMB resulted in a total more suppressive effect and in a significantly higher plant growth in comparison to all the other treatments. A significant correlation was found between root gall index and eggs and juveniles/g root and final nematode population density. No signifycant correlations were found between nematological parameters or plant growth parameters and amendment doses.

Effects of several amendments on organic melon growth and production, Meloidogyne incognita population and soil properties

“…Generally speaking, the present open field experiment confirmed the nematological results obtained by Abdel-Dayem et al (2012) in pot trials. The containment of the RKN population density of the treated plots to almost the initial value could be ascribed to the release of ammonia from CM and polyphenols and fatty acids from VOP and COP, as reported by several Authors (e.g., Cayuela et al, 2008;Renčo et al, 2010Renčo et al, , 2011.…”

“…In a previous paper, Abdel-Dayem et al (2012) carried out an experiment in pots artificially infested by Meloidogyne incognita at a population density of four eggs and juveniles mL −1 : Authors tested, on melon seedlings, the nematicidal and growth effects of virgin olive pomace (VOP) and an olive pomace based compost (COP), both at three different doses, in comparison to chicken manure, applied alone (CM) and in combination to Paecilomyces lilacinus strain 251 (CBM), a nematophagous fungus with the capacity to parasitize unspecified nematodes at all stages of their life cycles (Dong and Zhang, 2006).…”

Nematicidal Activities of Certain Animal Manures and Biopesticides against Meloidogyne incognita Infecting Cucurbit Plants under Greenhouse Conditions

“…The mode of action of chicken manure is thought to be based on the release of toxic levels of ammonium, although alterations in soil structure, the stimulation of antagonistic organisms, and improved plant tolerance also may play a role (Lazarovits et al, 2001 andLopez-Pérez et al, 2005). Abdel-Dayem et al, (2012) showed that the lowest root gall index of the nematode was achieved with chicken manure treatment and had a toxic effect on M. incognita by release the high amount of ammonium. The effectiveness of chicken manure depends on neutral pH, a high N content and a narrow C/N ratio (C/N=5.6).…”

USING COMPOST AND OLIVE POMACE FOR TRANSPLANTING OF ROOTED OLIVE (Olea europea L. CV. Aggezi) CUTTINGS

“…On olive, tomato, lettuce, strawberry and white button mushroom, Nair et al (2014) claimed that humified compost prepared from olive mill solid waste significantly increased total organic carbon and humic substances by 40 and 58 %, respectively in the soil and enhanced crop productivity. Incorporation organic wastes into the soil after an appropriate composting process can improve plant resistance to nematode and fungi attack by stimulating root development and plant growth because of their large content of nutritive elements (Sasanelli et al 2011;D`Addabbo et al 2012;Abdel-Dayem et al 2012 andAbdel-Dayem et al 2014). Also can act as a method for weed control (Boz et al, 2009), for improving soil fertility, water-holding capacity and physical and chemical properties (Cucci et al, 2013;Bueno et al, 2014 andKilli et al, 2014), and finally its impact on ground water was the minimum compared to mineral fertilizers (Caputo et al, 2013).…”