Screening of Abelmoschus gene pools for sources of resistance to root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita

Root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) is an important endoparasite affecting vegetable crops. This nematode is polyphagous and has a wide host range, okra being a major host. All commercial okra cultivars are susceptible to root-knot nematode resulting in substantial yield loss. Keeping this in view, an attempt was made to screen Abelmoschus gene pool comprising okra (Abelmoschus esculentus: (137 accs.), Abelmoschus wild species (15 accs.: four species) and inter-specific derivatives (49 accs.) against M. incognita for sources of resistance. All the accessions belonging to okra and inter-specific derivatives were found to be susceptible/highly susceptible to M. incognita. Accessions belonging to Abelmoschus wild gene pool, A. angulosus var. grandiflorus (IC203863) and A. tetraphyllus (IC470742) showed moderately resistant reaction with root-knot index of 3 (10–30 galls or egg mass/plant) indicating scope and utility of screening more species with sizable number of accessions for identification of sources of resistance.