Poultry litter delays the development and reduces the population of Meloidogyne javanica in papaya

The Carica papaya, is widely grown as a fruit crop in the all world. However, it suffers from an attack of root-knot nematodes. So the objective of this study was to evaluate the biology and control of Meloidogyne javanica in Carica papaya treated with neem oil, poultry litter, papaya seed extract, and papaya seed meal. Papaya (cv. Hawaii) seedlings were produced and maintained in a greenhouse in a completely randomized design. All treatments were incorporated into the soil. Two experiments were conducted, including one to assess nematode penetration into and development in the root system. Two thousand M. javanica juveniles/plant were inoculated for this assessment. The assessments were performed at 2, 4, 7, 9, 11, 18, 23, 28, 34, and 45 days after inoculation (DAI). Nematode penetration into the root system was not observed at 2, 4, or 7 DAI; second-stage juvenile (J2) penetration only occurred at 9 DAI. The second experiment consisted of 10 replicates. Seedlings were infested with 4.000 M. javanica eggs and J2 per plant. After 90 days, M. javanica stem diameter (mm), stem height (cm), and root fresh weight (g) were assessed in the soil and root; the data showed that poultry litter reduced the nematode population density, leading to the best results for the plant morphometric variables among the treatments tested.