Nematicidal Effects of Azadirachta indica Seed Extract on Meloidogyne spp.

Root-Knot Nematodes (RKN) Meloidogyne spp. significantly affects glasshouse tomatoes in Central Greece. Elimination or halting J2s could be an efficient strategy to control RKN. Recently, it was reported that a commercial product of Neem (Azadirachta indica) seed extract (Azadirachtin 1% Emulsion Concentrate-EC) significantly reduced the number of galls on tomato roots and egg masses, compared to the untreated control. In the present study neem proved to have a direct immobilising effect on RKN J2s. Different concentrations (0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50%) of the tested neem product were applied with water containing fresh J2s and in soil naturally infected with RKN. Records of immobilised J2s were taken after 10 min, 1 h, 6 h, 24 h and 72 h of Neem application in water and after six days of neem application into the soil. Neem solution concentrations 5% and 10%, resulted in 85% ± 3.2 and 100% of immobilised J2s. The same concentrations of neem when were added in the water for nematode extraction from the soil, resulted 14.25% ± 4.01 and 1.7%, of J2s extracted from the soil with a significant concentration effect (P = 0.008), compared to the untreated control. However, the neem product at high application dose significant damage the tomato plants caused phytoxicity.