Evaluation of Sesame for Control of Meloidogyne arenaria and Sclerotium rolfsii in Peanut

Sesame (Sesamum indicum) was evaluated in a 6-year field experiment as a rotation crop for the management of root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne arenaria) and southern blight (Sclerotium rolfsii) in 'Florunner' peanut (Arachis hypogaea). The experiment was initiated in 1988 in an irrigated field with severe M. arenaria and S. rolfsii infestation which had been in peanut production with winter fallow for 10 years. Rotations with bahiagrass (Paspalum notatum) were included as positive controls. Meloidogyne arenaria juvenile (J2) population densities in soil were reduced in plots with sesame or bahiagrass, while aldicarb applied to monoculture peanut failed to reduce J2 population densities in all but 1 year. Incidence of southern blight was lowest in peanut following 2 years of bahiagrass, while disease incidence in peanut following 1 year of bahiagrass was no less than that in peanut monoculture. Cropping systems with sesame had no consistent effect on southern blight. Yield of peanut wit