Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the biocontrol potential of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, Scutellospora sp. against root knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita on tomato under glasshouse conditions. Different dosages of Scutellospora sp. @ 5g, 10g, 15g, 20g and 25g/plant were tested against M. incognita and compared with carbofuran 3G and an untreatedcontrol. Among the various dosages evaluated, application of Scutellospora sp. @ 25g/plant was found effective, which enhanced the plant growth parameters to the tune of 58.7% of shoot height, 57.5% of shoot weight, 58.5% of root length, 63.8% of root weight, 59.3% of fruit weight, 63.6% of AM colonization, spore load (167.3/100cc soil) and 0.54% of total phosphorus content and 56.3 and 60.5% reduction in soil and root population of M.incognita over untreated control.

Keywords: Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungus, Scutellospora sp., M.incognita, Phosphorus content,Tomato