Meloidogyne Incognita As a Potential Pathogen on Winter Cover Crops Used in Cotton Production

Wednesday, January 8, 2020
JW Grand Salons 7-8 (JW Marriott Austin Hotel)
Thursday, January 9, 2020
JW Grand Salons 7-8 (JW Marriott Austin Hotel)
Friday, January 10, 2020
JW Grand Salons 7-8 (JW Marriott Austin Hotel)
Sloane McPeak , Auburn University
Kathy Lawrence , Auburn University
Dustin Herb , OreGro Seeds
The southern root-knot nematode, Meloidogyne incognita, is one of the most problematic nematode species of concern in cotton production in the southern United States. RKN has a wide host range and is widely epidemic throughout subtropical and tropical parts of the world. Increased egg population density at plantings observed in cotton fields in the southern US may be due to RKN on winter cover crops used in cotton production. The objective of this study was to determine the host susceptibility of small grain cover crops to RKN. Eight cultivars of triticale, five of barley, four of wheat, and three of oat were compared under greenhouse conditions to corn, a host for RKN. Seeds were planted with and without RKN to determine RKN reproductive rates as measured by number of RKN eggs per gram of fresh root evaluated 42 days after planting. Four seeds of each cultivar for each small grain were planted in 130 cm3 plastic cone-tainers. Each cone-tainer received 2,000 RKN eggs. All cultivars were replicated 5 times and arranged in a randomized complete block design. All winter crop hosts were more susceptible to RKN than corn with wheat and barley producing the higher number of eggs per gram of fresh root. Cover crop management strategies may be necessary for decreasing RKN population densities on cotton.