Biomanagement of Meloidogyne incognita in elephant foot yam

Abstract

Elephant foot yam (EFY) (Amorphophallus paeoniifolius) is one of the major tuber crop grown in India particularly in Andhra Pradesh State in an area of 4,607 Ha with productivity of 45-50 t/ha. This tuber is mainly used as a vegetable and also for medicinal purpose. Due to the continuous supply of fertilizers and irrigation for entire crop growth period it is effected with several pests and diseases including parasitic nematodes which affects the tuber yields significantly by forming galls which later makes the tubers decay due disease complex and becomes unfit for consumption or for seed purpose . These parasitic nematodes alone or with causing disease complex may cause yield reduction significantly up to 10-40%. In view of this, a research experiment was conducted during 2019-2021 with seven treatments and three replications with RBD at Dr. YSRHU-HRS, Kovvur, to find out the best effective bio management practice against parasitic nematode since this crop is used as vegetable as a whole and also to revalidate the efficacy of Carbofuran 3G against the nematode management. The research experiments results reveals that, out of seven treatments, soil application of neem cake @ 1.5 t/h + FYM @ 500 kg/ha + planting treated seed tuber with Trichoderma viride (dipping tubers for 15 mins) + soil application of microbial consortium (T. viride-1 kg + Pseudomonas fluorescens 1 kg + Paecilomyces lilacinus 1 kg enriched on FYM (1.5 ton) at the time of planting @ 100g/plant) and again at 90 days DAP @ 150g/plant recorded the lowest nematode load of 15.1 J2/200 cc soil and 2.3 females/5 g root tissue with highest yield of 45.55 t/ha compared to control with 317 J2/200 cc soil & 20.5 females per 5 g root tissue with yield of 13.33 t/ha. The chemical management i.e., application of Carbofuram 3G is also effective in managing the parasitic nematode with recording final nematode population of 19.8 J2/200 & 7.3 females/5 g which also can be considered as an alternative to the biomangement. With these results, the parasitic nematodes in elephant foot yam can be effectively managed in a safer, sustainable manner by adopting bio management practices.