Organic amendments with and without a synthetic nematicide for the management of Heterodera avenae in wheat

This experiment was conducted in the screenhouse of the Department of Nematology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India, in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 during the Rabi (winter) season to evaluated organic amendments with and without nematicide for the management of the cereal cyst nematode, Heterodera avenae, in wheat. Organic amendments - castor cake, neem cake, vermi compost and farmyard manure (FYM), individually or with Carbofuran 3G (25 mg pot(-1)) - were applied in pots 10 days before sowing. All organic amendments significantly reduced the nematode population compared to the inoculated control in both years. The higher doses of the amendments were better at controlling H. avenae than the lower dose. Among the organic amendments, neem cake significantly reduced nematode reproduction compared to other amendments. Significantly fewer cysts, 75 (kg soil)(-1), were found in treatment with neem cake at 20 g (kg soil)(-1) combined with nematicide. The greatest plant growth parameters were observed under castor cake at 20 g (kg soil)(-1) in combination with nematicide. Combined applications of organic amendments with the synthetic nematicide were better than without nematicide.

Automated summary

The study demonstrated that neem cake was the most effective organic amendment in managing cereal cyst nematodes in wheat, significantly reducing nematode populations. The combined application of nematicides with organic amendments was more effective than using nematicides alone.