Antagonistic Effect of Eight Sri Lankan Isolates of Pseudomonas fluorescens on, Meloidogyne incognita in Tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum

The study was conducted to determine the efficacy of Pseudomonas fluorescens isolates collected from eight locations in the Central Province of Sri Lanka against Meloidogyne incognita in tomato. Isolates were tested under laboratory conditions to determine the efficacy on egg hatchability and mortality of second stage juveniles. A planthouse experiment was conducted using potted tomato plants to determine the potential of P. fluorescens isolates and effective application technique. All tested isolates have significantly inhibited egg hatchability and increased the juvenile mortality after 72 hours. P. fluorescens isolate from Kangkung field in Pallekelle (PK) and tomato field in Udispattuwa (UT I) recorded 95% and 95.5% inhibition of egg hatchability after 72 hours. P. fluorescens isolates collected from tomato fields in Bopane (BT II) and Udispattuwa (UT II) and from Kangkung field in Pallekelle recorded the higher mortality of second stage juveniles 93%, 87% and 83.3% respectively. The highest reduction in the root knots (96.8%, 96.3%), egg masses (98.5%, 98.2%) and lower root galling index (1 and 1) were recorded in tomato plants treated as soil drench with UT II and PK isolates respectively.The root dipping technique gave higher reduction in the number of root knots (47.4%), egg masses (44.9%) and lower root galling index (3.75) were recorded from BT II, UT II and tomato fields in Nugethenna (NT) isolates respectively. UT II and PK found to be the most effective isolates and most effective application technique determined as soil drenching ten days after transplanting under plant house conditions.