Efficacy of neem based pesticides used for sucker treatment against root-knot nematode infesting banana cv. robusta

Banana (Musa spp.) is one of the important commercial fruit crops. Robusta, a common and widely distributed cultivar grown throughout the country is seriously affected by plant parasitic nematodes. Among them, the root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, a sedentary endoparasite infests the banana roots and rhizomes heavily and easily transmitted through suckers. The present investigation was undertaken to find out the effect of neem based formulations (neewin, nimbecidine, juerken and neemgold) and hot water treatment on root-knot nematode, M. incognita on banana in cultivar Robusta. Among the treatments, nimbecidine or juerken @ 15ml/litre of water for 30 minutes dip or hot water treatment @ 50°C for 20 minutes dip were proved to be most effective treatments resulting in enhanced plant growth with significant reduction in nematode populations and were on par with each other.