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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #91489
Title: COMPARATIVE REPRODUCTION OF MELOIDOGYNE INCOGNITA RACE 3 (COTTON ROOT-KNOT NEMATODE) AND ROTYELENCHULUS RENIFORMIS (RENIFORM NEMATODE) ON COTTON, KENAF, AND SUN HEMP

Author
item ROBINSON, ARIN
item Cook, Charles

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/24/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Kenaf and sun hemp are fiber crops that have shown promise as new cash crops in the southern United States, possibly in rotation with cotton. Information is needed regarding the impact of these crops on nematode infestations in crop fields. Three tests were conducted which compared reproduction by the two major nematode pests of cotton in the United States son selected genotypes of kenaf and sun hemp. Kenaf was found to support moderate to low population densities of the reniform nematode while permitting population densities of the cotton root-knot nematode to quickly explode to levels that are disastrous to cotton production. Sun hemp, by comparison, supported little or no reproduction by either nematode, indicating that its use would substantially reduce losses due to nematodes in cotton crops grown following sun hemp.

Technical Abstract: Growth chamber, microplot, and field tests evaluated sun hemp (Crotalaria juncea) and kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) as rotational fiber crops for managing nematode pests in cotton. Each test included kenaf cv. Everglades 71, sun hemp cv. Tropic Sun, and a cotton cultivar (Delapine 16 or Deltapine 50) susceptible to race 3 of Meloidogyne incognita (the cotton root-knot nematode), as the experimental control. Additional entries included the sun hemp genotypes TX-374 and IAC 1-2 in the growth chamber test, the resistant cotton genotype Auburn 623 in the growth chamber and microplot test, and the kenaf lines SF 459 and SF 192 in the field test. In the growth chamber and microplot experiments, each genotype was tested separately against M. incognita and Rotylenchulus reniformis (the reniform nematode). In the field experiment, soil was naturally infested with a mixed population of the two nematodes. The results indicated that sun hemp pcv. Tropic Sun and probably other sun hemp genotypes will reduce nematode problems in a cotton rotation. Everglades 71 kenaf also can be used in rotation with cotton where R. reniformis but not M. incognita is present. If used where M. incognita is present, Everglades 71 can increase the population density of M. incognita to a level that is devastating to cotton.