Efficacy of Paecilomyces lilacinus on the reduction of attack of Meloidogyne incognita on okra

Inoculation of Paecilomyces lilacinus at different levels along with Meloidogyne incognita on okra showed that plant growth and yield increased with the increase of inoculum level of P. lilacinus and an inoculum level of 4 g fungus culture (on rice grain husk medium) per kg soil was optimum to reduce nematode attack with a population level of 500 juveniles per kg soil. Growth of plant and yield of okra were suppressed when inoculation of the nematode preceeded fungus inoculation. On the other hand, when the fungus could attack the plant before nematode inoculation or simultaneously with the nematodes, suppressive effect of M. incognita was reduced. Egg mass production of the nematode was also reduced in these treatments.