Interactive Effect of Meloidogyne incognita and Rhizoctonia solani on the Growth and Yield of Tomato

Studies were carried out under pot conditions to determine the effect of Meloidogyne incognita (@ 4000 J2/4 kg soil) and Rhizoctonia solani (@ 10 g mycelium mat/4 kg soil) on the disease development and yield of tomato cv. K-25. Results indicated that highest reduction in plant growth and yield parameters was observed in simultaneous inoculation followed by nematode seven days prior to fungus, fungus seven days prior to nematode, nematode alone and fungus alone, respectively. However, highest reproduction rate and root-knot index were observed in plants inoculated with the nematode alone followed by nematode prior to fungus, nematode-fungus simultaneously and fungus prior to nematode, respectively. Data also indicated that root colonization by fungus was significantly high in the presence of M. incognita as compared with the fungus alone.