Silicon via fertigation in lettuce crop with different Meloidogyne incognita infestations

• Grant number: 20/00195-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2020
• End date: April 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: Renato de Mello Prado
• Grantee: Tales Arthur de Souza Alonso
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Lettuce culture (Lactuca sativa L.) is the most economically important leafy vegetable for Brazil. However, it is a culture susceptible to the attack of root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.), which impair their productivity. A sustainable alternative to control this pest in lettuce crops would be silicon use, but its agronomic efficiency is not yet known. In this context, the objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of potassium silicate applications via fertigation on lettuce (Vanda variety) inoculated with root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne incognita). For this, a factorial experiment (3x2) will be carried out from 3 levels of nematode infestation and 2 silicon concentrations. Thus, the experiment will consist of six treatments:1- the absence of Si application and of inoculums; 2- the absence of Si application and moderate presence of inoculums (6,000 eggs and juveniles of the second stage of the nematode per seedling); 3- the absence of Si application and high presence of inoculums (12,000 eggs and second-stage juveniles of the nematode per seedling); 4- the presence of Si application via fertigation (2mmol/L) and absence of inoculums; 5- the presence of Si application via fertigation (2mmol/L) and moderate presence of inoculums (6,000 eggs and second-stage juveniles per seedling); 6- the presence of Si application via fertigation (2mmol/l) and high presence of inoculums (12,000 eggs and second-stage juveniles per seedling). The evaluated variables will be diameter, leaf area, number of leaves, fresh weight of shoot, dry weight of shoot and root; gall number, estimated nematode population, reproduction factor (final population/initial population), electrolyte leakage index, firmness and ascorbic acid content, Si concentration in root and shoot, and total phenolics. Data will be submitted to analysis of variance by F test and Tukey test (P <0.05), as well as multivariate analysis.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DE SOUZA ALONSO, TALES ARTHUR; DA SILVA, DALILA LOPES; PRADO, RENATO DE MELLO; MARTINS SOARES, PEDRO LUIZ; LATA TENESACA, LUIS FELIPE; JUNIOR FERREIRA, RIVANILDO. Silicon promotes the control of Meloidogyne incognita in lettuce by increasing ascorbic acid and phenolic compounds. JOURNAL OF PEST SCIENCE, JAN 2022. (20/00195-0)