Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 Indian Phytopathology (2018) 71:415–421 https://doi.org/10.1007/s42360-018-0052-9 RESEARCH ARTICLE Screening of carrot cultivars against root‑knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita Faryad Khan 1  · Mohd Asif 1  · Amir Khan 1  · Moh Tariq 1  · Mansoor Ahmad Siddiqui 1 Received: 8 March 2018 / Revised: 16 July 2018 / Accepted: 25 August 2018 / Published online: 1 September 2018 © Indian Phytopathological Society 2018 Abstract To evaluate the 13 carrot cultivars against Meloidogyne incognita under green house conditions; diferent levels of suscep- tibility were observed in all the examined cultivars. Cultivar Golden Rosy was resistant to nematode attack with a low root gall index (1.2) while cultivar Kamini was found highly susceptible showing the highest root gall index (5.0). Similarly, the cultivars Rose Red, Noorie, Lali, Sindhuri, and Selection 80 were susceptible; the cultivars Pearl Red, Super Red, Surbhi, and Kamboj were moderately susceptible and the cultivars Desi Red and Red King were found moderately resistant against the nematode damage. A negative and signifcant correlation was found between root-knot nematode infestation and plant growth parameters. Keywords Root-knot nematode · Resistance · Susceptibility · Screening Introduction The genus carrot (Daucus carota L.) is a member of the family—Apiaceae, one of the important vegetables com- mercially grown worldwide. Its edible part is fresh taproot which can be eaten as raw or cooked. In USA, the yield loss to carrot production due to root-knot nematodes was 45% (Widmer et al. 1999), whereas in Nilgiris of India it was approximately 36% (Anita and Selvaraj 2011). Plant-parasitic nematodes are among the most destructive soil parasites which causes severe economic yield losses to agriculture crops, estimated to $US 118 billion per year in the world (Atkinson et al. 2012). These tiny parasites con- sist of ectoparasites as well as endoparasites which feed on the cytoplasm of living plant cells. Functionally, nematodes create metabolic sinks in infected plants by utilizing photo assimilates prepared to roots through metabolic activity of gall tissues. Among the plant parasitic nematodes, most of the vegetable crops are dangerously attacked by Meloido- gyne species due to their polyphagy. In India, Meloidogyne spp. infestation is a limiting factor in the production of carrot and it is necessary to fnd sustainable control measures which engage the attention of many growers and researchers. The nematode population in infested felds can be con- trolled by the use of several approaches as nematicides treat- ments, application of biocontrol agents (Vagelas and Gowen 2012), soil amendments (Asif et al. 2016, 2017), cultural practices in terms of crop rotation and the use of antagonistic plants (Hussain et al. 2011; Kayani et al. 2012).The applica- tion of chemical nematicides has been found to be a potent and efective means to control root-knot nematodes but they are losing their popularity due to high costs and detrimental efects on Man and environment (Taba et al. 2008).Among all the management tactics, utilization of resistant cultivars is cited as one of the primary, economically feasible and environmentally benign method to combat nematode men- ace (Mukhtar et al. 2013; Kinlock and Hinson 1972; Ansari et al. 2018). The main objective of this work was to explore the magni- tude of disease resistance in 13 carrot cultivars for root-knot nematode, M. incognita in greenhouse conditions which can be further used in nematode management programme. * Faryad Khan khanfaryadamu@gmail.com 1 Department of Botany, Section of Plant Pathology and Nematology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 202 002, Uttar Pradesh, India