Investigating the potential use of plant-based compounds as environmentally friendly management strategies for controlling root knot nematodes in cabbage crops

Abstract

Vegetables are infected by root knot nematodes, especially Meloidogyne incognita, which results in both quantitative and qualitative losses. This study’s objective was to assess the effectiveness of plant extracts from Senna alata and Tamarindus indica in controlling cabbage-infecting root knot nematodes. The experiment was carried out to determine the effect of aqueous and powdered extracts of T. indica and S. alata on the control of root knot nematodes in two cabbage varieties. The test plants underwent phytochemical screening. Data were gathered on plant height, shoot weight, root weight, yield and soil nematode populations. All numerical data were subjected to analysis of variance using the GENSTAT statistical programme. Treating F1 Majesty and F1 Minotaur with powdered T. indica extract resulted in a significantly better (p>0.05) growth and yield (62.77 cm and 53.77 cm) than the other treatments. Significant variations were found between the shoot, root and yield weights of treated plants and their control counterparts. The positive control had the highest number of galled roots in both varieties (6.25 and 8.27). The treated plants performed much better than the control plants. The experiment also revealed some compounds, such as hexadecanoic, butyric and octadecadienoic acid. Based on this study’s findings, it is advisable to make use of these botanicals (T. indica and S. alata) on root knot-infested farms, as they are cheap, available and eco-friendly alternatives to chemical nematicides, which are expensive and not environmentally friendly.