Grafting for the Management of Meloidogyne incognita in Brinjal

An attempt was made for the management of root knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita in brinjal through grafting. Thirteen Solanum species were screened against the M. incognita. Of these, S. torvum and S. khasianum showed resistant and moderately resistant reaction against M. incognita and remaining species showed highly susceptible reactions against M. incognita. S. torvum and S. khasianum were taken as rootstocks. Liliya and Kokila were taken as scions. Grafting of susceptible and cultivated hybrids, Liliya and Kokila were grafted on resistant rootstock S. torvum and on moderately resistant rootstock S. khasianum. Cleft grafting method was adopted for grafting. The highest success rate of grafting was recorded on Liliya grafted on S. torvum, followed by Kokila grafted on S. torvum. Liliya and Kokila grafted on S. torvum showed maximum reduction in number of galls, egg mass per root system, final nematode population and rate of reproduction with increased number of fruits per plant, fruit weight and total fruit yield per ha followed by Liliya and Kokila grafted on S. khasianum grafted plants. Delayed flowering and fruiting was observed in grafted plants as compared to non grafted plants.