Skip to main content
ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Hilo, Hawaii » Daniel K. Inouye U.S. Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center » Tropical Plant Genetic Resources and Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #317199
Title: Screening edible ginger and turmeric cultivars for resistance to root-knot nematodes

Author
item Myers, Roxana
item Mello, Cathy
item Keith, Lisa

Submitted to: Journal of Nematology
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/1/2015
Publication Date: 10/19/2015
Citation: Myers, R.Y., Mello, C.L., Keith, L.M. 2015. Screening edible ginger and turmeric cultivars for resistance to root-knot nematodes. Journal of Nematology. 47:258.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Twenty-two edible ginger and turmeric cultivars were screened for resistance or tolerance to Meloidogyne incognita. Plants were raised in 66 L grow bags in greenhouses in Hawaii according to established practices for producing bacterial wilt-free ginger. Three months after planting, each grow bag was inoculated with 2,000 M. incognita eggs. The trial was conducted in 2013 and repeated in 2014. In the first year, yields were reduced by an average of 50% among inoculated plants as compared to uninoculated controls. The highest susceptibility was observed in “Black turmeric” and “True white” ginger with yield losses of 80%. Edible ginger cultivar “I” from the PBARC germplasm collection demonstrated the highest tolerance to the nematodes. “Black turmeric” had the highest number of J2s in the soil and differed from all cultivars except “Blue finger”. Final nematode populations did not differ among the other cultivars. The greatest number of root-knot nematode eggs was recovered from turmeric cultivar “BDT” followed by “Blue finger”. “BDT” produced the most eggs per gram of root whereas “Blue finger” had the greatest root weight. Few differences in response to M. incognita were observed among the edible ginger germplasm. No resistance to M. incognita was discovered in any of the ginger or turmeric cultivars tested.