LETTER TO THE EDITOR

EFFECT OF SOIL BIOFUMIGATION USING THE SOLID RESIDUE OF CIKRON-H ON NEMATODE POPULATIONS1

Disposition of the residual products of the biopharmaceutical industry represents an important challenge due to the economic and environmental responsibilities involved. The National Centre for Animal and Plant Health (CENSA) carries out researches for obtaining pharmaceuticals from plants. CIKRON-H, derived from the bark of Rhizophora mangle L., is produced at CENSA. The solid residue obtained during the process for extracting the pharmaceutical active ingredient is the exhausted plant bark. A preliminary experiment was conducted to assess the effect of this residue on root-knot nematode populations when it was used as soil biofumigant in a non sterilized soil and on the plant root system of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.). A significant reduction of infective juveniles (J₂) of Meloidogyne incognita Kofoid and White (Chitwood) in the soil (from five J₂ per gram of soil to two degree) was shown. Enhancement of the saprophytic nematode populations was also observed. Despite these results, further studies are needed to evaluate the effect of this waste material on plant nutrition and physiology before recommending its use as a tactic to manage root-knot nematode populations in agricultural systems. ]]>

Sincerely yours,

Yanet Rodríguez*, Lucila Gómez**, Tania Pérez*, Mayra G. Rodríguez**, Lilian Sánchez*
y Dulce Ma. Soler*

Grupos de Desarrollo y Biotecnología Industrial* y Plagas Agrícolas**Centro Nacional de Sanidad Agropecuaria (CENSA), Apartado 10, San José de las Lajas, La Habana, Cuba. Correo electrónico: yanet@censa.edu.cu

¹ Proyecto "Diversidad e impacto de nematodos en ecosistemas agrícolas y forestales seleccionados de Venezuela y Cuba", Convenio Integral de Cooperación Cuba_Venezuela. INIA- CENSA. ]]>