Effect of Meloidogyne javanica on the yield of brinjal and tomato

Abstract

Although root-knot nematodes are a major problem in nurseries and vegetable growing in India, there is little information about yield losses in vegetable crops. Prasad (1960) reported infestations of the order of 83% for tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) and okra ( Hibiscus esculentus L.) in the Delhi area and Sadykhov (1970) also observed similar infestations in tomato and brinjal crops. Gunasekaran and Kalyanaraman (1970) found that tomato suffered maximum losses when inoculated with 10,000 M. incognita (Kofoid et White) Chitw. larvae per pot. The present study was undertaken to evaluate yield losses in brinjal and tomato infected with M. javanica (Treub) Chitw. under screenhouse and glasshouse conditions.