Biocontrol Potential of Pseudomonas fluorescens (Migula) against Root-Knot Nematode, Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White, 1919) Chitwood, 1949 on Tomato

Studies were conducted in greenhouse to assess the biocontrol potential of three strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens (Migula) viz., Pf-1, Pf-2 and Pf-3 at high (8 × 10⁸ cfu/g) and low (4 × 10⁸ cfu/g) dosages, as seedling bare ischolar_main dip treatment against Meloidogyne incognita (Kofoid and White, 1919) Chitwood, 1949 on tomato. The plant growth was significantly better in all the treatments with the bacterium. The strain Pf-1 performed significantly superior to the other two strains at both the dosages. The bacterial treatment also reduced the level of infestation by the nematode, which was dosage dependent. The strain Pf-1 was superior to the other two. The nematode suppressing ability of the bacterial strains appeared to be related to their ischolar_main-colonising ability.