Compatibility of Heterorhabditis indica with neem seed and kernel granules for suppressing Meloidogyne incognita infecting tomato

A glass house experiment was conducted to study the effect of neem seed granules (NSG), neem seed kernel granular (NSKG) formulation and H. indica alone as well as their combinations on Meloidogyne incognita infecting tomato. Among the different treatments, combined application of H. indica @ 160 J_3/g soil + NSKG formulation @ 1 g/kg soil followed by H. indica @ 160 J_3/g soil + NSG formulation @ 1 g/kg soil were found high to all other treatments in suppressing the M. incognita population (267 and 289 J_2/g soil) and thus, significantly (P≥0.05) less gall formation (237 and 361) respectively, as compared to untreated inoculated control (1368 galls per plant). Also the treatment of H. indica @ 160 J_3/g soil alone, reduced the number of galls (433) significantly in comparison with inoculated control (only M. incognita J_2/g soil). All the treatments resulted in improved plant growth characters such as root length, shoot length, root fresh weight and shoot fresh weight at P≥0.05 significance level in comparison with the treatments only M. incognita inoculum.