Pre-Plant Biofumigation and Integrated Post-Plant Strategies for Management of Nacobbus aberrans and Meloidogyne incognita in Greenhouse Tomato

Root-knot (Meloidogyne spp.) and false root-knot (Nacobbus aberrans) nematodes limit greenhouse tomato productivity. The effectiveness of integrating pre-plant biofumigation with post-plant chemical, biological, and botanical inputs was assessed under commercial conditions. A split-plot trial (2019) contrasted biofumigated and non-biofumigated whole plots (50 t ha−1 of sorghum residues plus poultry and sheep manures) and 13 subplot treatments (fluopyram, Purpureocillium lilacinum, Pochonia chlamydosporia, Trichoderma viride, Tagetes erecta, and plant oil formulations). Nematodes were sampled 0, 60, and 120 days after transplanting, and the area under the nematode population curve (AUNPC), area under the root-damage curve (AURDC), and yield were analyzed. Biofumigation reduced pre-transplant N. aberrans populations by 86% and lowered the AUNPC by 39% relative to the non-biofumigated treatment; the whole-plot yields did not differ. Meloidogyne incognita remained at a very low density throughout. Among the subplot treatments, fluopyram decreased the AURDC by ≈22% and more than doubled the yield (63 vs. 26 t ha−1; +142%), while the AUNPC of N. aberrans was unchanged. Biological and botanical packages reduced damage indices in some cases but did not increase the yield. No whole-plot × subplot interaction was detected for the yield. The results indicate that sorghum-based biofumigation, complemented by a low-risk nematicide at transplanting, can be embedded in integrated nematode-management programs for greenhouse tomato.