Effects of Root-knot Nematodes, Meloidogyne hapla, M. incognita, M. arenaria and M. javanica on Growth and Yield of Tomato

The effects of infection severity of susceptible tomato varieties, Rutgers and Boksu 2, by root-knot nematode, meloidogyne hapla, M. arenaria or M. javanica on plant growths and tomato yields were investigated. The inoculum levels of each nematode species were 0, 1,000 and 10,000 nematodes per 42cm diam. pot. Tomato yield was reduced by the nematode infection. Severity of infection was on the decreasing order of M. javanica, M. incognita, M. arenaria, M. hapla, ranging from by M. javanica to only by M. hapla. Yield reduction by infection of M. hapla was more prominent in Boksu 2 than in Rutgers. However the results were vice versa for the other nematode species, The top fresh-weight of Rutgers inoculated with 10,000 nematodes was greater than root weight, regardless of the nematode species, whereas plant height and top fresh weight decreased with increasing root weight when inoculated with inoculum density of 1,000/pot.