Meloidogyne javanica suppression by organic fertilizers in tomato plants

Meloidogyne javanica (Treub, 1885) Chitwood can contribute to significant losses in various crops in Brazil. One way to reduce this nematode’s population is by adding organic fertilizers to the soil. Therefore, this study sought to evaluate the performance of a bovine compost and slaughterhouse swine compost in M. javanica development in tomato seedlings. Two thousand eggs of second-stage juveniles of M. javanica were inoculated in tomato seedlings. Evaluations were performed every five days after nematode inoculation using six plants from each treatment. Nematode development was evaluated for up to thirty days after inoculation when egg masses appeared. Sixty days after inoculation, another set of plants was evaluated for root fresh weight, shoot dry weight, number of galls, final population, and reproduction factor. However, the slaughterhouse swine compost promoted increments in tomato plant biomass. The tested treatments of organic fertilizers promoted M. javanica reproduction (reproduction factor >1) in tomato roots.