Chicken litter soil amendment effects on soilborne microbes and Meloidogyne incognita on cotton

The effects of chicken litter incorporated 28, 14, and 0 days before planti ng on Meloidogyne incognita in cotton and soil organisms were determined in the greenhouse. Treatments consisted of field soil amended with litter at rates of 0, 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, and 1% by weight. At 45 and 90 days after pla nting. numbers of M. incognita decreased as rates of litter increased. Micr obivorous nematode densities increased as litter rates increased only in th e first experiment. Plant growth increased as litter rates increased, regar dless of when the litter was incorporated, or the presence or absence of M. incognita. Bacterial and fungal CFU fluctuated during both experiments, bu t generally had positive linear relationships with litter rate. Population densities of M. incognita decreased with increasing bacterial and fungal co unts in amended soil. Bacterial genera identified from the litter-amended s oil included Arthrobacter Bacillus, Cellulomonas, Micrococcus, Pseudomonas, and Rhodococcus.