Application methods for Monacrosporium ellipsoporum to control Meloidogyne incognita and the effect of simultaneous application with a nematicide

The ability of the fungus, Monacrosporium ellipsosporum to control the nematode pest Meloidogyne incognita was evaluated using two treatment methods, planting hole treatment and total soil mixing treatment. Different quantities of a M. ellipsosporum culture mixture or combined treatments with fungus and a granular nematicide were applied. The total soil mixing treatment resulted in lower root-knot indices in experimental tomato plants than the planting hole treatment. When the fungus was applied in combination with half of the standard dose of granular fosthiazate, plant height and shoot weight were significantly increased. In these experiments, the root-knot index was as low as in tests in which twice the dose of nematicide had been applied without fungus. At the completion of the cultivation period, the detection rate of M. ellipsosporum was 100% in treatments in which only the fungus culture mixture had been applied, but was lower than that in combined application experiments.