Development of safe chemical and biological formulations for control of nematodes in cucumber

ABSTRACT

Afield study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a chemical mixture, biological suspension and synthetic nematicide [oxamyl] on the fruit yield and development of a natural polyspecific microorganism community on cucumber plants. This community included the fungi Aspergillus niger, A. ochracious, A. terreus, Fusarium solani, Penicillium spp., Rhizoctonia solani, and Trichoderma spp.; the dominant bacteria Bacillus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. and the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita. Changes in the density and structure of the community were presented and discussed. Plots treated with the mixture, consisted of red molasses [50 liter], milk [1 liter], smashed garlic cloves [5 kg] and water [45 liter], had the highest fruit yield and lowest M incognita population. Moreover, cucumber yield was significantly [P fruit yield of oxamyl-treated plots was not consistent with the applied rates, the medium [120 ml/plot] and high [240 ml/plot] rates showed significantly [P biological suspension having species of Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Rhizobacterium and Rhizobium in almost equal cell- numbers [total of 1.6 x 10[8] bacterial cells/ml water]. Yet, plots treated with the high rate of the suspension [2 liter/plot] yielded more [P fruits than the untreated control. At harvest time, Rhizoctonia solani disappeared while F. solani, was present in a few treatments