Management of root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus coffeae in six commercial cultivars of banana through organic and inorganic amendments.

Abstract

The root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus coffeae is considered one of the economically important nematode pests of banana and is reported to have spread through infested corms. In India, the nematode is known to occur on banana and plantain in all the states of South India, Gujarat, Orissa, Bihar and Assam (Sundararaju 1996). Crop losses caused due to P. coffeae in cv. ‘Nendran’ were reported to be 25.4% (Sundararaju et al. 1999). Several chemical products have been developed to manage this nematode, but they are expensive, cause environmental pollution and are health hazards. Organic farming is gaining in importance because of its beneficial effects, notably reduced use of chemical fertilizer and improved soils (better physicochemical properties and increased beneficial micro flora). Organic amendments and plant residues have been showed to reduce plant parasitic nematodes in several crops (Singh and Sitaramaiah 1973, Vemana et al. 1999, Adekunle and Fawole 2002). However, few studies looked at the effect of organic and inorganic fertilisers on plant growth and yield in banana, and on plant parasitic nematodes. In the present study, the effect of organic and inorganic amendments were tested on six commercial cultivars of banana infested with P. coffeae.