Comparative performance of biological formulations for the management of Meloidogyne enterolobii in chickpea (Cicer arietinum)

Abstract

Meloidogyne enterolobii can reduce yield and quality of chickpea. Thus far, no resistant cultivars have been reported. Hence, a study was carried out to evaluate the relative performance of biological products for the management of M. enterolobii on chickpea. Greenhouse experiments were conducted with ten treatments (five formulations of antagonistic fungi and bacteria applied either individually or in mixtures) and four controls (non-inoculated and inoculated chickpea and tomato plants). Each plant was inoculated with 4000 eggs and second-stage M. enterolobii juveniles (J2). Evaluation was done 60 days after inoculation for gall index, number of eggs per gram of roots, reproduction factor (RF), plant height, shoot, and root weight. None of the treatments fully suppressed infection. However, a subset of formulation mixtures displayed significant reduction in the levels of damage when compared to the untreated check. The treatments with best performance were [Purpureocillium lilacinum + Trichoderma harzanium] (57–74% reduction) and [Pochonia chlamydosporia + P. lilacinum + Bacillus amyloliquefaciens + B. pumilus + B. subtilis] (58–65% reduction), whereas [P. chlamydosporia + P. lilacinum + T. harzanium] and [B. amyloliquefaciens + B. pumilus + B. subtilis + T. harzanium] displayed the lowest levels of suppression (0–42%). Higher plant height and fresh shoot weight were observed with [P. chlamydosporia + P. lilacinum + B. amyloliquefaciens + B. pumilus + B. subtilis]. Hence, considering the low efficiency of the currently available management methods, the employment of these microbiological products might help to reduce the negative impacts of M. enterolobii in infested fields.