Indian Journal of Nematology

Wilt disease of betelvine (Phytophthora capsici) is of great economic importance in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, as it causes 100 per cent wilting of plants in 2–3 months in diseased gardens. Soil samples collected at 9 days interval from apparently healthy as well as wilt diseased gardens were used for estimation of plant parasitic, saprozoic nematodes and also for total fungi, bacteria and actinomycetes population, in order to find out any relationship with the wilt disease incidence. The results revealed that as the soil microflora (total fungi, total bacteria and total actinomycetes) increased, the per cent change in wilt disease incidence also increased. The population of root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita were positively correlated with per cent change in wilt disease incidence in diseased garden. The saprozolc nematode, Tylenchus spp. was negatively correlated with per cent chage in wilt disease incidence in healthy garden.