This study investigated the effects of Mexican sunflower and Siam weed applied as organic amendments on the population densities of phytonematodes infecting okra with a view to reduce the quantity of synthetic nematicides used in the management of phytonematodes. Two field trials of 2 × 5 factorial experiment were laid out in a randomized complete block design with two okra cultivars (NH47-4 and LD88) and five treatments made up of 7 or 14 plants of either Mexican sunflower or Siam weed and the unamended control. The population densities of Meloidogyne incognita, Pratylenchus species and Tylenchus species were significantly higher in control plots than in amended plots. Mexican sunflower and Siam weed applied at 7 or 14 plants per plot significantly reduced population densities – of Meloidogyne incognita by 38 %, Pratylenchus spp. By 39 %, and Tylenchus spp. by 49 % in the early rainy season trial and by 32 %, 28 % and 35 %, respectively, in the late rainy season trial with correspondingly higher yield of okra in amended plots compared to those unamended in both trials.
vegetable, nematode pest, organic amendment, Tithonia diversifolia, Chromolaena odorata
Oladele, O.O., Adekunle, O.K. (2021): Management of Root-knot and Other Phytonematodes Infecting Okra with Soil Amendments. Scientia Agriculturae Bohemica, 52, 67-75. DOI: 10.2478/sab-2021-0008