Preliminary evaluation of the effect of three rates of ground leaves and fruits powders of Myristica fragrans on Meloidogyne incognita infecting sunflower in vivo

Three rates of ground leaves and fruits powders of Myristica fragrans (5, 10 and 20 g/pot) were evaluated for their nematicidal effect against M. incognita infecting sunflower plants under greenhouse conditions. Results indicated that all tested applications significantly enhanced sunflower plant growth characters. Moreover, all tested treatments significantly gave better results with a significant correlation between the increase in the added dose and the improvement rate in the tested plant criteria and nematode parameters. The modest dose of leaves and fruits doses (10 g/pot) recorded the highest rates of improvement with values of 88.5 and 63.5; 88.9 and 75.0; 141 and 133.3% respectively for plant length, total plant wet weight and shoot dry weight. On the other hand, the highest rate of ground leaves and fruits powders of M. fragrans (20 g /pot) recorded the highest reduction in tested nematode criteria with values of 80.0 and 75.9% for final nematode reproduction and stated the lowest nematode reproduction factor (RF) compared to nematode only treatment.   Key words: Ground, powders, Myristica fragrans, nematicidal activity, Meloidogyne incognita, sunflower.