Abstract

"Five organic soil amendments were evaluated for their nematicide effect on root-knot Meloidogyne ethiopica Whitehead, 1968, on potted Vitis vinifera L. var. Chardonnay plants. The amendments included two immature composts: Compost A made with tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) residues, broiler litter and grape pomace; Compost B made with tea residues, rachis and grape pomace; and separately dried tea residues, grape pomace and broiler litter. These amendments were either incorporated or applied as cover to the substrate in 5 L pots at the beginning of spring. A chemical treatment with the nematicide fenamiphos and a control with substrate only were added for comparisons. The assay was composed of 11 treatments with six replicates, with a grape plant as experimental unit. Seven months later, the assessment of the treatments was carried out based on number of second stage juvenile, nodules, eggs per root gram and reproductive index. Fresh aerial and root plant weight were also measured. The chemical treatment presented the lowest final population of M. ethiopica. When evaluating the nematicide action of the organic amendments: compost A soil-incorporated and both grape pomace and solid dry tea residue as covers obtained low reproductive indexes, similar to the chemical treatment and control (P ≤ 0.05). No differences in aerial fresh weight were determined. However, the chemical treatment showed the smallest root mass as compared to compost B and solid dry tea residues, both as cover."