Effect of certain organic materials in controlling Meloidogyne incognita root-knot nematode infesting banana

Efficacy of certain plant wastes as onion bulb envelope, dry leaves of sugar beet, fleabane and jojoba, filter cake or mud as sugar cane industrial residue and nile fertile mineral bio-fertilisers were studied under field conditions for managing Meloidogyne incognita on banana Cv. Williams. All the tested treatments significantly (P ≤ 0.05 and 0.01) proved to be effective in reducing the studied nematode criteria during the growing season of banana. The highest percentage reductions of 87.5 and 85.5% were recorded in the number of second-stage juveniles caused by fleabane at vegetative and harvest stages, respectively. As for galls, the highest percentage reductions of 80.4 and 79.6% were achieved at harvest stage by sugar beet waste and filter cake residue, respectively. Also, sugar beet waste was the best at increasing banana fruit yield per feddan (77.0%), followed by jojoba (53.1%) and fleabane (50.4%). The number of fingers and hands per bunch increased by the different materials at various degrees.