Effect of Meloidogyne javanica and Fusarium oxysporum interaction on wilt disease incidence in cumin

Abstract

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) is a seed spice crops grown in semi-arid area of the country. Various factors have been recognized for low yield of cumin in which Wilt disease in cumin mainly caused by Fusarium oxysporum also one of them. The semi-arid area of the country also affected by nematode problem as well. Presence of nematode and the fungus causes disease complex, which was highly destructive to plants. Hence, an experiment was conducted to know the effect of Fusarium oxysporum and Meloidogyne javanica interaction on wilt disease complex in cumin. A total of six treatments with 4 replications were taken i.e., T1 - nematode alone (N), T2 - fungus alone (F), T3 - simultaneous inoculation of nematode and fungus (N + F) at the time of sowing, T4 - nematode at the time of sowing and fungus 21 days after sowing (N1 + F2), T5 - fungus at the time of sowing and nematode 21 days after sowing (F1 + N2) and T6 - control without fungus and nematode. The observations were taken 60 days after sowing on growth character of cumin plant, nematode reproduction, and wilt disease incidence. The results indicated reduction in plant growth parameters in combination of nematode at the time of sowing and fungus after 21 days of sowing followed by simultaneous inoculation of nematode and fungus. Nematode reproduction in terms of formation of galls and egg masses and final nematode population in soil was also significantly suppressed in the treatment where nematode was inoculated 21 days prior to fungus. The study was concluded that the effect of nematode inoculated 21 days prior to fungus shows high per cent of wilt disease incidence in cumin than other combinations.