Varietal Susceptibility and Disease Resistance of Tomato Cultivars against Meloidogyne incognita in Greenhouse Condition

Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are the most devastating pests of vegetables, especially in the tropic and subtropic regions. Meloidogyne incognita is among the major pathogens found in the tomato crop and causes a significant yield loss. This study evaluates the resistance and susceptible cultivar of tomato against root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita).

A greenhouse study was conducted to evaluate the resistance or susceptibility of nine tomato cultivars against M. incognita. Nine cultivars of tomato (Jyoti-4, Navuday, P-21, T9, Pusa-Rohini, Pusa-Sheetal, Pusa-Ruby, Tomato-Ped and Tomato-Round) were procured from Indian Institute of Agriculture Research (IARI), New Delhi and Chola seeds store Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. Two weeks old seedlings of each cultivar were transplanted singly into each pot of 15 cm diameter (1 kg mixture of soil). Only one healthy seedling of each cultivar was maintained in each pot, including the control. Each pot was inoculated with 1500 freshly hatched second-stage juveniles (J2s) of M. incognita. This experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design (CRD) with five replications of each cultivar.

According to the rating scale of galls and reductions in growth parameters, cultivars Pusa-Ruby and Tomato-Ped were found highly susceptible. Five cultivars, namely Jyoti-4, Navuday, Pusa-Sheetal, P-21 and Tomato-Round were found susceptible, while cultivar Pusa-Rohini was found moderately susceptible. Only one cultivar viz., T9, was found moderately resistant.