Management of Meloidogyne incognita on cotton by use of botanical aromatic compounds

Abstract

The efficacy of benzaldehyde (benzoic aldehyde), citral (3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienal), furfural (2-furaldehyde), menthol (5-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl)cyclohexanol), and ?alpha-terpineol (?alpha, ?alpha, 4-trimethyl-3-cyclohexene-1-methanol) for management of Meloidogyne incognita was tested on 'Deltapine 50' cotton (Gossipium hirsutum) in a greenhouse experiment. Mixing these compounds into a sandy loam soil-sand mixture at rates ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 ml/kg reduced the number of M. incognita juveniles in cotton roots and soil. The number of galls/g root tissue was reduced, and the compounds had no adverse effects on cotton growth. The percentage of root colonized by vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizae (VAM) was decreased with increasing concentrations of compounds. Citral and menthol significantly increased plant height at all rates of application. Benzaldehyde, citral, and furfural were tested in field microplots at rates ranging from 0.18 to 2.14 ml/kg soil. In all experiments, the co