Managing Southern Root-knot Nematode in Kentucky High Tunnels Using Grafted Tomato

Victoria Bajek; Rachel E. Rudolph

doi:10.21273/HORTSCI17141-23

Managing Southern Root-knot Nematode in Kentucky High Tunnels Using Grafted Tomato

Victoria Bajek
, Rachel E. Rudolph

Horticulture

Producción científica: Article › revisión exhaustiva

10 Citas (Scopus)

Resumen

Infection by root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.; RKN) leads to root galling and reduces the host plant’s ability to take up water and nutrients. Protected cropping systems, such as high tunnels, create conducive environments for RKN through increased soil temperatures and more intensive crop production. In Kentucky, high tunnel production has increased in the past 10 years, with tomato being the most cultivated high tunnel crop. This has contributed to a lack of rotation and increased pressure from RKN. Tomato grafting with RKN-resistant rootstock is a nonchemical management strategy that has shown promise in other regions of the United States. The primary objective of this 2-year, two-site study (Knox and Boyle Counties) was to determine whether using grafted resistant rootstock could be a viable management strategy in high tunnels naturally infested with Meloidogyne incognita. The rootstocks included ‘Arnold’, ‘Maxifort’, ‘Shin Cheong Gang’, and ‘Estamino’. ‘Primo Red’ and ‘Cherokee Purple’ were the scions and nongrafted controls in Knox and Boyle Counties, respectively. In 2020 and 2021 in Knox County, three of the four grafted treatments produced at least 38% higher yield than the nongrafted control. Grafted treatments had at least 44% fewer RKN eggs/g of dry root compared with the nongrafted control in both years. In 2021 and 2022 in Boyle County, tomato yield was at least five times greater in all four of the grafted treatments compared with the nongrafted control. In 2021, the nongrafted control had three times more RKN eggs/g dried root compared with three of the four grafted treatments. In 2022 in Boyle County, the nongrafted control had four times more RKN eggs/g of dried root than all grafted treatments. In both years and locations, ‘Arnold’ and ‘Estamino’ treatments had higher yield and lower RKN population densities in soil and roots compared with the nongrafted controls. Utilization of resistant rootstock will help Kentucky growers maintain crop productivity in soils infested with RKN, but should be combined with other management methods for long-term resiliency of the high tunnel system.

Idioma original	English
Páginas (desde-hasta)	704-713
Número de páginas	10
Publicación	HortScience
Volumen	58
N.º	6
DOI	https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI17141-23
Estado	Published - jun 2023

Nota bibliográfica

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Society for Horticultural Science. All rights reserved.

Financiación

Received for publication 3 Mar 2023. Accepted for publication 7 Apr 2023. Published online 22 May 2023. This research was funded by a Kentucky Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant and supported by the US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Hatch project 1021069. We thank Maya Horvath, Henry Smith, Nicole Gauthier, Erin Haramoto, Martín Polo, Wayne Kirby, and Alexis Sheffield for their assistance with this project. We also thank the grower cooperators for donating the land, labor, and time. The mention of trade names or commercial products in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement. R.R. is the corresponding author. E-mail: rachel. [email protected]. This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons. org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). 2009). High tunnels rely on passive heating and cooling, which means temperatures inside the tunnel can increase rapidly on sunny days and cooling the high tunnel is largely done through venting or opening the sidewalls and end walls (Black and Drost 2010). Studies have shown that increased soil temperatures and overall daytime heat in high tunnels increase yield and optimize early season production for specialty crops such as tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) compared with open field production (Frey et al. 2020; Gude et al. 2022; O’Connell et al. 2012). Tomato is one of the most valuable high tunnel crops per square foot (Galinato and Miles 2013), and its production continues to increase along with the interest in high tunnel production (Janke et al. 2017). This can be partially attributed to financial assistance provided by cost share grants such as the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (Belasco et al. 2011; Ernst et al. 2020; Janke et al. 2017; US Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service 2023). The NRCS incentives program has led to more than 7000 high tunnels being constructed in the southern region, with Kentucky being the most active adopter. Kentucky has more than 1500 high tunnels constructed through the NRCS program (Wheby D, NRCS, personal communication), which is equal to more than 260,128 m2 of production capacity (Ernst et al. 2020). Although high tunnels can be a high-value infrastructure, providing many production benefits, they can also create a multitude of challenges for growers through increased soil temperatures (Kumari et al. 2014; O’Connell et al. 2012; Zhao and Carey 2009), soil fertility degradation from intensive production (Reeve and Drost 2012), increased soil salinity (Rudisill et al. 2015), and lack of crop rotation and sanitation (Bruce et al. 2019).

Financiadores	Número del financiador
US Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agriculture and Food Research Initiative	1021069
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Kentucky Department of Agriculture

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Horticulture

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title = "Managing Southern Root-knot Nematode in Kentucky High Tunnels Using Grafted Tomato",

abstract = "Infection by root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.; RKN) leads to root galling and reduces the host plant{\textquoteright}s ability to take up water and nutrients. Protected cropping systems, such as high tunnels, create conducive environments for RKN through increased soil temperatures and more intensive crop production. In Kentucky, high tunnel production has increased in the past 10 years, with tomato being the most cultivated high tunnel crop. This has contributed to a lack of rotation and increased pressure from RKN. Tomato grafting with RKN-resistant rootstock is a nonchemical management strategy that has shown promise in other regions of the United States. The primary objective of this 2-year, two-site study (Knox and Boyle Counties) was to determine whether using grafted resistant rootstock could be a viable management strategy in high tunnels naturally infested with Meloidogyne incognita. The rootstocks included {\textquoteleft}Arnold{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}Maxifort{\textquoteright}, {\textquoteleft}Shin Cheong Gang{\textquoteright}, and {\textquoteleft}Estamino{\textquoteright}. {\textquoteleft}Primo Red{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}Cherokee Purple{\textquoteright} were the scions and nongrafted controls in Knox and Boyle Counties, respectively. In 2020 and 2021 in Knox County, three of the four grafted treatments produced at least 38\% higher yield than the nongrafted control. Grafted treatments had at least 44\% fewer RKN eggs/g of dry root compared with the nongrafted control in both years. In 2021 and 2022 in Boyle County, tomato yield was at least five times greater in all four of the grafted treatments compared with the nongrafted control. In 2021, the nongrafted control had three times more RKN eggs/g dried root compared with three of the four grafted treatments. In 2022 in Boyle County, the nongrafted control had four times more RKN eggs/g of dried root than all grafted treatments. In both years and locations, {\textquoteleft}Arnold{\textquoteright} and {\textquoteleft}Estamino{\textquoteright} treatments had higher yield and lower RKN population densities in soil and roots compared with the nongrafted controls. Utilization of resistant rootstock will help Kentucky growers maintain crop productivity in soils infested with RKN, but should be combined with other management methods for long-term resiliency of the high tunnel system.",

keywords = "Meloidogyne incognita, Solanum lycopersicum, host suitability, plant-parasite, soil microorganism, temperature",

author = "Victoria Bajek and Rudolph, \{Rachel E.\}",

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T1 - Managing Southern Root-knot Nematode in Kentucky High Tunnels Using Grafted Tomato

AU - Bajek, Victoria

AU - Rudolph, Rachel E.

PY - 2023/6

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N2 - Infection by root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.; RKN) leads to root galling and reduces the host plant’s ability to take up water and nutrients. Protected cropping systems, such as high tunnels, create conducive environments for RKN through increased soil temperatures and more intensive crop production. In Kentucky, high tunnel production has increased in the past 10 years, with tomato being the most cultivated high tunnel crop. This has contributed to a lack of rotation and increased pressure from RKN. Tomato grafting with RKN-resistant rootstock is a nonchemical management strategy that has shown promise in other regions of the United States. The primary objective of this 2-year, two-site study (Knox and Boyle Counties) was to determine whether using grafted resistant rootstock could be a viable management strategy in high tunnels naturally infested with Meloidogyne incognita. The rootstocks included ‘Arnold’, ‘Maxifort’, ‘Shin Cheong Gang’, and ‘Estamino’. ‘Primo Red’ and ‘Cherokee Purple’ were the scions and nongrafted controls in Knox and Boyle Counties, respectively. In 2020 and 2021 in Knox County, three of the four grafted treatments produced at least 38% higher yield than the nongrafted control. Grafted treatments had at least 44% fewer RKN eggs/g of dry root compared with the nongrafted control in both years. In 2021 and 2022 in Boyle County, tomato yield was at least five times greater in all four of the grafted treatments compared with the nongrafted control. In 2021, the nongrafted control had three times more RKN eggs/g dried root compared with three of the four grafted treatments. In 2022 in Boyle County, the nongrafted control had four times more RKN eggs/g of dried root than all grafted treatments. In both years and locations, ‘Arnold’ and ‘Estamino’ treatments had higher yield and lower RKN population densities in soil and roots compared with the nongrafted controls. Utilization of resistant rootstock will help Kentucky growers maintain crop productivity in soils infested with RKN, but should be combined with other management methods for long-term resiliency of the high tunnel system.

AB - Infection by root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne spp.; RKN) leads to root galling and reduces the host plant’s ability to take up water and nutrients. Protected cropping systems, such as high tunnels, create conducive environments for RKN through increased soil temperatures and more intensive crop production. In Kentucky, high tunnel production has increased in the past 10 years, with tomato being the most cultivated high tunnel crop. This has contributed to a lack of rotation and increased pressure from RKN. Tomato grafting with RKN-resistant rootstock is a nonchemical management strategy that has shown promise in other regions of the United States. The primary objective of this 2-year, two-site study (Knox and Boyle Counties) was to determine whether using grafted resistant rootstock could be a viable management strategy in high tunnels naturally infested with Meloidogyne incognita. The rootstocks included ‘Arnold’, ‘Maxifort’, ‘Shin Cheong Gang’, and ‘Estamino’. ‘Primo Red’ and ‘Cherokee Purple’ were the scions and nongrafted controls in Knox and Boyle Counties, respectively. In 2020 and 2021 in Knox County, three of the four grafted treatments produced at least 38% higher yield than the nongrafted control. Grafted treatments had at least 44% fewer RKN eggs/g of dry root compared with the nongrafted control in both years. In 2021 and 2022 in Boyle County, tomato yield was at least five times greater in all four of the grafted treatments compared with the nongrafted control. In 2021, the nongrafted control had three times more RKN eggs/g dried root compared with three of the four grafted treatments. In 2022 in Boyle County, the nongrafted control had four times more RKN eggs/g of dried root than all grafted treatments. In both years and locations, ‘Arnold’ and ‘Estamino’ treatments had higher yield and lower RKN population densities in soil and roots compared with the nongrafted controls. Utilization of resistant rootstock will help Kentucky growers maintain crop productivity in soils infested with RKN, but should be combined with other management methods for long-term resiliency of the high tunnel system.

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KW - Solanum lycopersicum

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KW - plant-parasite

KW - soil microorganism

KW - temperature

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Managing Southern Root-knot Nematode in Kentucky High Tunnels Using Grafted Tomato

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