Fertiliser use efficiency of soybean cultivars infected with Meloidogyne incognita and Pratylenchus penetrans

Abstract

AbstractThe most appropriate use of fertilisers to offset damage caused by nematode infestations can benefit greatly from determining fertiliser use efficiency (FUE). FUE is defined as increase in host productivity and/or decrease in nematode population density in response to a given fertiliser treatment. This study describes new and integrated approaches to identify FUE in nematode-infected plants. In two consecutive experiments, Heterodera glycines-resistant 'Bryan', susceptible-tolerant 'G88-20092', and susceptible-intolerant 'Tracy M' soybean cultivars were inoculated with 0 or 15 000 eggs of Meloidogyne incognita or mixed stages of Pratylenchus penetrans per 800 cm3 of sandy loam soil and maintained under glasshouse conditions (28 ± 2°C) for 25 and 26 days. Plants received 83 ± 21 and 89 ± 19 ml either full-strength Hoagland solution (HS), HS without N (HS-N), or tap water daily in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Photosynthesis and nematode population dynamics were chosen to test FUE because the relationship between these two parameters, for the most part, determines the outcome of crop yield in the presence of nematodes. Although the FUE varied by fertiliser source, cultivar and nematode, the data were conclusive in identifying the interactions. FUE was high for photosynthesis in all three cultivars, and more so in HS than in HS-N. FUE was high for suppressing population densities of both nematodes and increasing photosynthesis in cv. Tracy M and for M. incognita in cv. G88-20092. Fertiliser application against P. penetrans in cv. Bryan was unproductive because nematode population density increased. FUE for P. penetrans in cv. G88-20092 and for M. incognita in cv. Bryan was less conclusive because there was some increase in nematode population density. Overall, these new approaches to identifying FUE for host productivity in the presence of nematodes provide quantitative data that should be of great interest to plant breeders, soil scientists, agronomists and plant protection specialists.