Relationship between initial population densities of Meloidogyne javanica and damage to pepper and tomato in Ethiopia

Abstract

Pot experiments were conducted in glasshouse to ascertain the damage potential of an Ethiopian population of Meloidogyne javanica on tomato and pepper. Tomato cv. Marglobe and pepper cv. Marekofana seedlings were planted in 500 cm3 soil in pots and inoculated with initial population levels (Pi) of 0, 1,2,4, 8 or 16 second stage juveniles/cm3 soil according to a completely randomized design. Nematode population densities were negatively correlated with tomato and pepper growth while root galling increased with the increase of the inoculum level of the nematode. Seinhorst's model fitted the data for tomato (r2 = 0.96) and pepper (r2 = 0.94) and tolerance limits (D of 0.28 and 0.36 juveniles/cm3 soil, respectively, were estimated. The minimum yield (m) was 0.4 for both plant species.