VOLUME 6 NUMBER 1 (January to June 2013)

by Charina Gracia B. Banaay¹*, Casiana M. Vera Cruz², and Virginia C. Cuevas¹

¹ Institute of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines
² International Rice Research Institute, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

The effect of organic matter (OM) amendment onMeloidogyne graminicola and Pythium sp.infection of aerobic rice was determined in fieldexperiments conducted during the 2009-2010 dryseasons. OM was added as in situ-composted ricestraw. M. graminicola occurrence was unaffected but percentroot galling was reduced. Pythium occurrence was lower intreated than in control plots. Microbial diversity was higher intreated plots during active plant growth. This increase inmicrobial diversity correlated with the observed decrease indisease symptoms. OM amendment is proposed as an alternativeway of managing M. graminicola and Pythium infection inaerobic rice fields.