Efecto de la biofumigación para el control de nematodos en el suelo de un cultivo de banano (musa x paradisiaca)

Abstract

Bananas play a vital role in the Ecuadorian economy, generating income, employment and stimulating investment in agricultural infrastructure. The presence of nematodes in the roots of banana plants has a detrimental impact, reducing yield, weakening the plants and affecting product quality, this entails significant control costs and threatens the long-term sustainability of the banana industry in Ecuador. For this reason, the objective of this work was to demonstrate the effectiveness of biofumigation through applications of compounds of plant origin in the soil of a banana crop, to reduce the amount of nematodes. The trial was carried out in the banana plantation of the “Santa Inés” experimental farm of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences belonging to the Technical University of Machala, in the Province of El Oro; A completely randomized design was used to determine the behavior of the treatments. The compounds used for biofumigation were obtained from Brussels sprouts and nettle. The variables evaluated were: number of leaves (NH), diameter of the stem: (FS), height of the offspring until calving (AHP), weight of the cluster (PR), number of hands (NM), population of nematodes in three stages, percentage of live, dead and diseased roots; These variables were taken in three stages (initial, middle and final), after obtaining the information, a database was built in Excel for their respective analysis and interpretation. According to the results obtained, the one-factor ANOVA analysis determined that there was significance between the treatments because their values are less than (p= 0.05) with regard to the AHP and FS variables, significant differences were observed between at least a couple of groups, suggesting statistically notable variations. However, no significant differences in NH were found between the groups studied; the bilateral Dunnett's T test was used to make multiple comparisons between treatments T1 (OC10g), T2 (OC20g), T3 (OC30g) and the control group. T0 (OC0g) in relation to the same variables. In terms of AHP, treatments T3 (1.41m) and T2 (1.39m) showed significant differences with respect to the control group, indicating a positive effect on plant height. Regarding FS, only T3 (0.617m) showed a significant difference with the control group. However, in NH no significant differences were observed between the studied groups. The interpretation of graphs in production variables was carried out, which indicated that treatments T2 and T3 exhibited a greater bunch weight, with averages of 46.2 and 45.8 pounds respectively, in addition to an additional hand per bunch compared to T0. and T1, which could positively influence production. These treatments also demonstrated a significant increase in the percentage of healthy roots, T2 reaching 82.57% accompanied by T3 with 81.34%, as well as a reduction in diseased and dead roots, indicating an improvement in root health. Furthermore, T2 and T3 exhibited significant reductions in nematode population compared to T0, supporting the effectiveness of biofumigation in nematode control. These results underline the potential of biofumigation as a strategy to improve banana root quality and reduce the nematode population, which could have a positive impact on the productivity and overall health of banana plants, which is relevant. for Ecuador's banana industry.