Effects of mulching on biomass, nutrients, and soil water in banana inoculated with nematodes

The objective of this study was to determine whether mulching mitigated the impact of nematodes on banana (Musa AAA) inoculated with Radopholus simili s (Cobb) Thorne and Helicotylenchus multicinctus (Cobb) Golden. The study w as conducted at International Institute of Tropical Agriculture's (IITA's) Sendusu station, Uganda. Treatments included mulched and bare soil with or without nematode inoculation, Mulched treatments produced ol er three times more biomass than bare soil treatments. This increase in biomass was likel y due to improved fertility as a result of mulching, since mulched treatmen ts had higher concentrations of soil organic C, P, and exchangeable K and M g, and foliar K. Mulched banana took up more water from both the 0- to 0.3- m and 0.3- to 0.5-m depths than banana grown without mulch and soil water r echarged more quickly in the mulched treatments as a result of increased po rosity from 0- to 0.3-m depth. Nematode inoculation had little effect on bi omass or foliar nutrient concentrations of P, K, Ca, and Mg in the bare soi l treatments, In contrast, in the mulched treatments nematode inoculation r educed banana biomass and yield, In both cases, more root necrosis was obse rved in the inoculated treatments. It appears that growth was so restricted by low fertility in the bare soil treatment that nematode damage was not a limiting factor, As mulching increased soil fertility, nematode damage did appear to restrict the growth potential of banana. Our study suggests that mulching may mitigate the impact of nematodes on bananas when applied to l ow fertility systems.