Articles
EFFECT OF MELOIDOGYNE INCOGNITA AND FUSARIUM SOLANI ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF THREE TOMATO CULTIVARS
Article number
635_22
Pages
175 – 182
Language
English
Abstract
A diagnostic survey indicated that a disease complex involving Meloidogyne incognita and Fusarium solani was associated with wilting tomato plants in farmers fields in the Central Region of Ghana.
Nematode infection was found to occur in both susceptible and resistant cultivars.
Pot experiments were therefore conducted to investigate the combined effect of F. solani and M. incognita on the growth and yield of three local tomato cultivars, viz Fadebegye (regarded locally as highly resistant), Awisa 2E (resistant) and NR 44 Local (tolerant). The trial was carried out at the Experimental Farm of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana during the 1997 farming season.
Reduction in plant height, shoot weight, root length, root weight, number of flowers per plant and mean fruit weight were all significant between the control and the concomitant treatments in all the cultivars.
Also yield reduction was significant in NR 44 Local and Awisa 2E when seedlings were inoculated with nematodes two weeks prior to the fungus F. solani. There was a significant increase in root knot disease severity in plants inoculated with the fungus and the nematodes together compared with treatments inoculated with nematodes alone.
Although concomitant inoculation of the fungus and the nematodes did not affect wilt severity, it resulted in significant yield reduction in NR 44 Local and Awisa 2E. In Fadebegye, however, both the wilt severity and yield were not significantly affected by the combined infection of the fungus and the root knot nematodes.
It was concluded that the combined inoculations of the M. incognita and the F. solani significantly reduced yield of both Awisa 2E and NR 44 Local and that measures to prevent the spread of both pathogens in the nursery and field would be beneficial to tomato farmers in the region.
Nematode infection was found to occur in both susceptible and resistant cultivars.
Pot experiments were therefore conducted to investigate the combined effect of F. solani and M. incognita on the growth and yield of three local tomato cultivars, viz Fadebegye (regarded locally as highly resistant), Awisa 2E (resistant) and NR 44 Local (tolerant). The trial was carried out at the Experimental Farm of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana during the 1997 farming season.
Reduction in plant height, shoot weight, root length, root weight, number of flowers per plant and mean fruit weight were all significant between the control and the concomitant treatments in all the cultivars.
Also yield reduction was significant in NR 44 Local and Awisa 2E when seedlings were inoculated with nematodes two weeks prior to the fungus F. solani. There was a significant increase in root knot disease severity in plants inoculated with the fungus and the nematodes together compared with treatments inoculated with nematodes alone.
Although concomitant inoculation of the fungus and the nematodes did not affect wilt severity, it resulted in significant yield reduction in NR 44 Local and Awisa 2E. In Fadebegye, however, both the wilt severity and yield were not significantly affected by the combined infection of the fungus and the root knot nematodes.
It was concluded that the combined inoculations of the M. incognita and the F. solani significantly reduced yield of both Awisa 2E and NR 44 Local and that measures to prevent the spread of both pathogens in the nursery and field would be beneficial to tomato farmers in the region.
Authors
M.A. Yeboah, Y. Opoku-Asiamah
Keywords
Disease complex, egg masses, nematodes, wilting, root galling, fungus
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