Indian Journal of Nematology

In the present study, with the aim to study the nematode infestation and to identify the prevalent root-knot species, major bitter gourd growing areas were surveyed in different districts of Punjab. From these fields one hundred eighteen samples were collected out of which sixty six samples were found to be infested showing overall 57.27 percent mean disease incidence. District wise maximum disease incidence (75%) was recorded in Ferozepur followed by Sangrur (65%) and the minimum disease incidence was seen in Ludhiana (44.16%). The observation recorded on cropping sequence followed by the farmers revealed that fields where crops like brinjal, okra, chilli and cucumber were grown in rotation with the bitter gourd crop, nematode infestation was higher as compared to the fields where marigold, garlic and onion crops were included in the crop rotation. Further, it was noticed that fields with wild bitter gourd/Jhaar Karela (Momordica balsamina) grown areas showed less soil nematode population as compared with fields where cultivated bitter gourd (M. charantia) was grown. Morphological identification using perineal pattern studies and the PCR based detection using species specific primers revealed Meloidogyne incognita as the most prevalent species.