Abstract
Radopholus similis is a major constraint to banana production in Australia and growers have relied on nematicides to manage production losses. The use of organic amendments is one method that may reduce the need for nematicides, but there is limited knowledge of the influence of organic amendments on endo-migratory nematodes, such as R. similis. Nine different amendments, namely, mill mud, mill ash, biosolids, municipal waste compost, banana residue, grass hay, legume hay, molasses and calcium silicate were applied to the three major soil types of the wet tropics region used for banana production. The nutrient content of the amendments was also determined. Banana plants were inoculated with R. similis and grown in the soil-amendment mix for 12-weeks in a glasshouse experiment. Assessments of plant growth, plant-parasitic nematodes and soil nematode community characteristics were made at the termination of the experiment. Significant suppression of plant-parasitic nematodes occurred in soils amended with legume hay, grass hay, banana residue and mill mud relative to untreated soil. These amendments were found to have the highest N and C content. The application of banana residue and mill mud significantly increased shoot dry weight at the termination of the experiment relative to untreated soil. Furthermore, the applications of banana residue, grass hay, mill mud and municipal waste compost increased the potential for suppression of plant-parasitic nematodes through antagonistic activity. The application of amendments that are high in C and N appeared to be able to induce suppression of plant-parasitic nematodes in bananas, by developing a more favourable environment for antagonistic organisms.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akhtar M, Malik A (2000) Roles of organic soil amendments and soil organisms in the biological control of plant-parasitic nematodes: a review. Bioresour Technol 74:35–47
Araya M (2005) Study of the effect of Musa Genotype, Soil Type, and Weed Management on their Nematodes and Nematodes Damage Distribution. Doctoral Thesis No 655 thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Bongers T (1990) The maturity index: an ecological measure of environmental disturbance based on nematode species composition. Oecologia 83:14–19
Cáceres T, Ying G-G, Kookana R (2002) Sorption of pesticides used in banana production on soils of Ecuador. Aust J Soil Res 40:1085–1094
Cannon MG, Smith CD, Murtha GG (1992) Soils of the Cardwell-Tully area, North Queensland. CSIRO, Canberra
Chabrier C, Queneherve P (2003) Control of the burrowing nematode (Radopholus similis Cobb) on banana: impact of the banana field destruction method on the efficiency of the following fallow. Crop Prot 22:121–127
Chabrier C, Tixier P, Duyck P-F, Carles C, Quénéhervé P (2010) Factors influencing the survivorship of the burrowing nematode, Radopholus similis (Cobb.) Thorne in two types of soil from banana plantations in Martinique. Appl Soil Ecol 44:116–123
Chavarria-Carvajal JA, Rodriguez-Kabana R, Kloepper JW, Morgan-Jones G (2001) Changes in populations of microorganisms associated with organic amendments and benzaldehyde to control plant-parasitic nematodes. Nematropica 31:165–180
Collins D, Cirillo L, Abraham L (2004) The Australian Horticulture Statisitics Handbook 2004. Horticulture Australia Limited, Sydney
Coyne D, Wasukira A, Dusabe J, Rotifa I, Dubois T (2010) Boiling water treatment: A simple, rapid and effective technique for nematode and banana weevil management in banana and plantain (Musa spp.) planting material. Crop Prot 29:1478–1482
Eisenhauer N, Ackermann M, Gass S, Klier M, Migunova V, Nitschke N, Ruess L, Sabais ACW, Weisser WW, Scheu S (2010) Nematicide impacts on nematodes and feedbacks on plant productivity in a plant diversity gradient. Acta Oecol 36:477–483
Ferris H, Bongers T, de Goede RGM (2001) A framework for soil food web diagnostics: extension of the nematode faunal analysis concept. Appl Soil Ecol 18:13–29
Flavel TC, Murphy DV (2006) Carbon and nitrogen mineralisation rates after the application of organic amendments to soil. J Environ Qual 35:183–193
Gaidashova S, van Asten P, De Waele D, Delvaux B (2009) Relationship between soil properties, crop management, plant growth and vigour, nematode occurence and root damage in East African Highland banana-cropping systems: a case study in Rwanda. Nematology 11:883–894
Goodey JB (1963) Soil and freshwater Nematodes. Methuen & Co, London, p 544
Gowen SR, Quénéhervé P, Fogain R (2005) Nematode parasites of bananas and plantains. In: Luc M, Sikora L, Bridge J (eds) Plant parasitic Nematodes in subtropical and tropical agriculture. CAB International, Wallingford
Hohberg K (2003) Soil nematode fauna of afforested mine sites: genera distribution, trophic structure and functional guilds. Appl Soil Ecol 22:113–126
Hooper DJ (1986) Extraction of nematodes from plant material. In: Southey JF (ed) Laboratory methods for work with plant and soil nematodes. Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, London, pp 51–58
Kennedy AC, Stubbs TL, Schillinger WF (2004) Soil and crop management effects on soil microbiology. In: Magdoff F, Weil RR (eds) Soil organic matter in sustainable agriculture. CRC Press, New York, pp 295–326
Kleiese Y, Prove B, McShane T, Moody P, Reghenzani J (1997) Nutrient loss study in the Johnstone River catchment. Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Brisbane
Lazarovits G, Conn KL, Abbasi PA, Tenuta M (2003) Control of soilborne plant pathogens with organic amendments: challenges and possiblilities. In ‘8th International Congress of Plant Pathology’. Christchurch, New Zealand p. 51. (Horticulture Australia Ltd)
Moody PW, Aitken RL (1997) Soil acidification under some tropical agricultural systems. 1. Rates of acidification and contributing factors. Aust J Soil Res 35:163–173
Moody EH, Lownsbery BF, Ahmed JM (1973) Culture of root-lesion nematode Pratylenchus vulnus on carrot disks. J Nematol 5:225–226
Moss LH, Epstein E, Logan T (2002) Evaluating risks and benefits of soil amendments used in agriculture. Water Environment Research Foundation, Alexandria
Paparu P, Dubois T, Coyne DL, Viljoen A (2009) Dual inoculation of Fusarium oxysporum endophytes in banana: effect on plant colonization, growth and control of the root burrowing nematode and the banana weevil. Biocontrol Sci Technol 19:639–655
Pattison AB (1994) Control strategies against burrowing nematode in bananas: a north Queensland perspective. In: Valmayor RV, Davide RG, Stanton JM, Treverrow NL, Roa VN (eds) Banana Nematodes and Weevil Borers in Asia and the Pacific. INIBAP/ASPNET, Los Baños, pp 217–220
Quénéhervé P, Chabrier C, Auwerkerken A, Topart P, Martiny B, Marie-Luce S (2006) Status of weeds as reservoirs of plant parasitic nematodes in banana fields in Martinique. Crop Prot 25:860–867
Rayment GE, Higginson FR (1992) Australian laboratory handbook of soil and water chemical methods. Inkata Press, Sydney
Sikora RA (1992) Management of the antagonistic potential in agricultural ecosystems for the biological control of plant parasitic nematodes. Annu Rev Phytopathol 30:245–270
Stirling GR, Pattison AB (2008) Beyond chemical dependency for managing plant-parasitic nematodes: examples from the banana, pineapple and vegetable industries of tropical and subtropical Australia. Australas Plant Pathol 37:254–267
Stirling GR, Wilson E, Stirling M, Pankhurst CE, Moody P, Bell MJ (2003) Organic amendments enhance biological suppression of plant-parasitic nematodes in sugarcane soils. In ‘Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugarcane Technologists.’ p. 13
Stirling GR, Wilson EJ, Stirling AM, Pankhurst CE, Moody PW, Bell MJ, Halpin N (2005) Amendments of sugarcane trash induce suppressiveness to plant-parasitic nematodes in sugarcane soil. Australas Plant Pathol 34:203–211
Stone AG, Scheuerell SJ, Darby MD (2004) Suppression of soilborne diseases in field agricultural systems: organic matter management, cover cropping, and other cultural practices. In: Magdoff F, Weil RR (eds) Soil organic matter in sustainable agriculture. CRC Press, New York, pp 131–177
Tixier P, Riséde J-M, Dorel M, Malézieux E (2006) Modelling population dynamics of banana plant-parasitic nematodes: a contribution to the design of sustainable cropping systems. Ecol Modell 198:321–331
Turner DW (1972) Dry matter production, leaf area and growth analysis of bananas. Aust J Exp Agric Anim Husb 12:216–224
Valenzuela-Solano C, Crohn DM (2006) Are decomposition and N release from organic mulches determined mainly by their chemical composition? Soil Biol Biochem 38:377–384
Vawdrey LL, Stirling GR (1997) Control of root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne javanica) on tomato with molasses and other organic amendments. Australas Plant Pathol 26:179–187
Weller DM, Raaijmakers JM, McSpadden-Gardener BB, Thomashow LS (2002) Microbial populations responsible for specific soil suppressiveness to plant pathogens. Annu Rev Phytophathol 40:309–348
Westphal A (2005) Detection and description of soils with specific nematode suppressiveness. J Nematol 37:121–130
Whitehead AG, Hemming JR (1965) A comparison of some quantitative methods of extracting small vermiform nematodes from the soil. Ann Appl Biol 55:25–38
Widmer TL, Mitkowski NA, Abawi GW (2002) Soil organic matter and management of plant-parasitic nematodes. J Nematol 34:289–295
Yeates GW, Bongers T (1999) Nematode diversity in agroecosystems. Agric Ecosyst Environ 74:113–135
Yeates GW, Bongers T, de Goede RGM, Freckman DW, Georgieva SS (1993) Feeding habits in soil nematode families and genera-An outline for soil ecologists. J Nematol 25:315–331
Acknowledgements
The financial assistance and project funding by Horticulture Australia Ltd and Growcom under the project number FR02025 was greatly appreciated. Thanks to Mark Poljak and Tanya Martin for their technical assistance. Thanks also to the banana growers, Mark Nucifora, Cameron Mackay and Marty Philips who allowed us to use their soil and to the companies supplying the soil amendments, particularly Bundaberg Sugar limited.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pattison, A.B., Badcock, K. & Sikora, R.A. Influence of soil organic amendments on suppression of the burrowing nematode, Radopholus similis, on the growth of bananas. Australasian Plant Pathol. 40, 385–396 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13313-011-0055-9
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13313-011-0055-9