Department of Plant Pathology, S.V. Agricultural college, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Tirupati-517 502.
Part of M.Sc. (Ag) thesis submitted by the senior author to Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University.
An experiment was conducted to study the effect of soil solarization for the control of Meloidogvne incognita and Pythium aphanidermatum pathogen complex of tomato in the nursery. Soil solarization with clear transparent polythene sheet for 6 weeks during hot summer months showed an increase in soil temperature (8°C) and conservation of soil moisture (4.5%) when compared to unsolarized control. Increased soil temperature coupled with soil moisture resulted in a significant reduction in population densities of. M. incognita (85.8%), P. aphanidermatum (85.4%), weeds (91.2%) and their dry weight (93.3%). Though the physical and chemical characteristics of soil remained unchanged, the availability of soil nutrients increased by soil solarization.
Soil solarization, tomato, Meloidogyne incognita, pathogen complex
