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POSTERS: Late Breaking II

P-616 - Rotation, Cover Crop, and Fumigation Impacts on Guava Root-Knot Nematode (Meloidogyne enterolobii) Incidence in Field Studies in Sweetpotato

Tuesday, August 5, 2025
10:15 AM - 11:00 AM HST
Location: Exhibit Hall 3
Abstract Text: Sweetpotato is a critical crop for North Carolina (NC) in both domestic and international export markets. Guava root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne enterolobii, GRKN) is an aggressive and invasive plant-parasitic nematode species that causes root galling and yield losses and poses a significant threat to the sweetpotato industry in NC due to the damaging effects on the marketable portion of the crop. GRKN is particularly challenging to manage due to its wide host range and ability to overcome host genetic resistance that is effective in managing other root-knot nematode species. This project aims to identify multi-tactic management options for GRKN in sweetpotato production utilizing rotation and cover crops along with fumigation in multi-year field studies. Rotation crops sorghum-sudangrass (Sudex), pearl millet, and soybean were evaluated along with cover crops oats, wheat, rye, and fallow in an on-farm location naturally infested with GRKN. Under disease pressure from GRKN, increased marketable yield and reduced galling damage was observed in sweetpotatoes that followed Sudex and pearl millet, while more galling damage and yield loss was observed in sweetpotatoes that followed soybeans. Fumigation significantly increased marketable yield in the sweetpotatoes that followed the non-host crops Sudex and pearl millet, but not in the sweetpotatoes that followed the host crop soybean. To the authors’ knowledge, this represents one of the first studies that evaluates the effects of rotation and cover crops on GRKN populations through sweetpotato harvest in field conditions.