Pathogenicity and control of Rotylenchulus reniformis on Cicer arietinum

Abstract

Surface sterilized chickpea cv. GBS - 1 seeds were sown in 15 cm diam clay pots filled (1 kg/pot) with autoclaved sandy loam soil compost mixture (4: 1 soil: compost) and inoculated with Rhizobium culture. Seven days after germination, seedlings were thinned to one plant per pot. Suspensions of pre-adult R. reniformis were added to pots when the plants were 10 days old to provide nine inoculum levels (Table I). Each treatment, including the un inoculated control was replicated three times. Sixty days after inoculation, plants were removed from pots and measurements were made of length and dry weight of shoots and r:oots. Nematodes were extracted from potted soil by Cobb's sieving and decanting method and total numbers were recorded.