Eco-friendly management of Rotylenchulus reniformis and Meloidogyne incognita on castor by using botanical amendments with potential antihelminthic properties

Abstract

The efficacy of applications of bark powder obtained from ten plant species, amla (Phyllanthus emblica), arjuna (Terminalia arjuna), asoca (Saraca asoca), babul (Acacia nilotica), bottle brush (Callistemon lanceolatus), eucalyptus (Eucalyptus citriodora), jamun (Syzygium cumini), mango (Mangifera indica), neem (Azadirachta indica), and tamarind (Tamarindus indica), incorporated into the soil was assessed in a pot experiment to manage a castor decline induced by root-knot (Meloidogyne incognita) and reniform (Rotylenhulus reniformis) nematodes. Treatments with bark powder from neem, asoca, jamun and babul improved castor seedling growth and suppressed nematode reproduction and number of galls/root system. Neem bark powder was the most effective. The rest of the bark products had no significant effect on nematode population levels and plant growth. The residual soil population levels, at the end of the experiment, remained at high damaging levels for a new crop in all of the nematode infested pots regardless of the amendments that were applied.