Control of Meloidogyne graminicola a Root-Knot Nematode Using Rice Plants as Trap Crops: Preliminary Results

Stefano Sacchi, Giulia Torrini, Leonardo Marianelli, Giuseppe Mazza, Annachiara Fumagalli, Beniamino Cavagna, Mariangela Ciampitti and Pio Federico Roversi
Additional contact information
Stefano Sacchi: Lombardy Region Plant Health Service Laboratory in Fondazione Minoprio, Vertemate Con Minoprio, 22070 Como, Italy
Giulia Torrini: CREA Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification, 50125 Florence, Italy
Leonardo Marianelli: CREA Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification, 50125 Florence, Italy
Giuseppe Mazza: CREA Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification, 50125 Florence, Italy
Annachiara Fumagalli: ERSAF Lombardy—Phytosanitary Service, 20124 Milan, Italy
Beniamino Cavagna: Lombardy Region—DG Agricoltura Servizio Fitosanitario Regionale, 20124 Milan, Italy
Mariangela Ciampitti: ERSAF Lombardy—Phytosanitary Service, 20124 Milan, Italy
Pio Federico Roversi: CREA Research Centre for Plant Protection and Certification, 50125 Florence, Italy

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Meloidogyne graminicola is one of the most harmful organisms in rice cultivation throughout the world. This pest was detected for the first time in mainland Europe (Northern Italy) in 2016 and was subsequently added to the EPPO Alert List. To date, few methods are available for the control of M. graminicola and new solutions are required. In 2019, field trials using rice plants as trap crops were performed in a Lombardy region rice field where five plots for three different management approaches were staked out: (i) Uncultivated; (ii) Treated: three separate cycles of rice production where plants were sown and destroyed each time at the second leaf stage; (iii) Control: rice was sown and left to grow until the end of the three cycles in treated plots. The results showed that in the treated plots, the nematode density and the root gall index were lower than for the other two management approaches. Moreover, the plant population density and rice plant growth were higher than the uncultivated and control plots. In conclusion, the use of the trap crop technique for the control of M. graminicola gave good results and thus it could be a new phytosanitary measure to control this pest in rice crop areas.

Keywords: alien pest; Italy; Oryza sativa; phytosanitary measures; rice root-knot nematode; trap crop technique; upland rice cultivation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/1/37/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/1/37/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:11:y:2021:i:1:p:37-:d:476891

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().