Efficacy of Leaf Extract of Piliostigma Thonningii for Control of Root-Knot Nematode (Meloidogyne javanica) on Eggplant

Extracts of Piliostigma thonningii were tested for their effectiveness in controlling Meloidogyne javanica eggs and juveniles in the laboratory and on eggplant cv ‘Yalon Data’. A thousand juveniles were placed in 12 petridishes and extracts of P. thonningii (Crude extracts, 5 ml dilution and 10 ml dilution of the crude extracts) were dispensed into the petridishes. One thousand eggs of the M. javanica were placed in 12 petridishes and treated with the same extracts used on the juveniles. For the field experiment, 12 plots of size 2m x2m were prepared and planted with nine plants of eggplant cv ‘Yalon Data’. Seedlings of eggplants were transplanted after three weeks in the nursery to the field into holes drenched with 10 ml of the extracts used in the laboratory tests. Subsequent applications of extracts were done weekly for eight weeks. The results showed that the crude extract was the most effective against both the eggs (87.43 % hatch inhibition) and juveniles (90.23 % mortality). In the field, eggplants treated with the crude extract recorded the tallest plants ((124.78 cm -2017 and 125.00 cm-2018), highest number of fruits/plant (18.51-2017 and 19.55-2018), highest yield (50.45t/ha-2017 and 53.78t/ha-2018) and the lowest galling indices and final nematode population. It is therefore concluded that the crude extract of P. thonningii can be employed for the control of M. javanica in the field.