Integrated Management of Meloidogyne incognita on Tomato Using Combinations of Commercial Abamectin and Plant Activator

One of the main pests of tomatoes is root knot nematodes and causes significant yield losses. The abamectin is a bio-based pesticide and plant activators is used stimulating systemic acquired resistance mechanisms. Determining their suppressive effects on nematodes and understanding their interactions may be important for better use in integrated management. The effect of abamectin (Streptomyces avermitilis, Abamax®) and plant activators (harpin and Lactobacillus acidiophilus) singly or in combination was tested against Meloidogyne incognita on tomato under controlled conditions. The experiment was established 5 days after transplanting of 35 days of tomatoes. ProAct Plus® (Harpin, 0.15 g/l), ISR-2000® (L. acidophilus, 1 ml/l) and Crop-Set® (L. acidophilus, 0.6 ml/l) were applied to the leaves by spraying, while Abamax® was applied to the soil. Nematode inoculation (1000 second juvenile larvae (J2)) was planned 72 hours after the first application of activators. The activators were applied to tomatoes 2 more times with 14 days intervals. After sixty days, plant height and fresh weight, root height and fresh weight, number of galls and egg masses, gall index, J2 soil density and lignification of leaves, stem and roots were evaluated. While the gall index was 4/0-5 index in plants treated only with nematodes, it was found to be 1.2/0-5 index in Abamax®. While 1.6 was found in Proact Plus®, 2.0 was detected in ISR2000® and Cropset®. No galls or egg masses were found in ProAct Plus®±Abamax®, ISR-2000®±Abamax® and Crop-Set®±Abamax®. The positive effect of abamectin alone on plant development was found to be higher than plant activators. Root fresh weight increased significantly in abamectin and plant activator combinations. Plant activators caused an increase in lignification and the highest level was found in Proact Plus®. Lignification was higher in combinations with abamectin. The highest lignification was in Abamax®±Proact Plus®. Combinations of harpin and L. acidophilus activators with abamectin may be a potential antagonism strategy against root-knot nematodes.