Root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne incongita was found to cause the major problems recorded on vegetables in Oman. Their damage, however, was found to be comparatively high on tomatoes. This trial was therefore conducted to compare the use of traditional nematicides recommended for the control with the efficiency of using mycorrhizal fungi as a means of biological control. The treatments used included a noninoculated control and an inoculated control with nematodes in addition to two treatments to which nematicides were added ( Mocap3 and Vydate 3) , plus two more treatments , where mycorrhizal fungi was added( a and b). Results revealed that the nematicide Mocap3 was superior in controlling nematodes population in tomatoes followed by the addition of mycorrhiza(b) resulting in 98 and 97% reduction in galls/plant, respectively. The nematicide Vydate3 and Mycorrhiza (a), however, reduced the number of galls/plant to 86 and 90%, respectively. Regarding other growth traits, Mocap3 and Mycorrhiza(b) outyielded all other treatments significantly in fruit numbers. 100 and 44% increase in fruit numbers was obtained over the uninoculated control treatment ,respectively. The increase in fruit numbers was 600 and 400% when compared with the inoculated treatment. The other growth traits data was rather erratic. Correlation analysis revealed that there was significant positive correlation between growth traits which is an indication that fruit yield depended on the vigor of the plant, shoot and root weights. The results also revealed the efficacy of the use of biocontrol agents as a means of nematodes control as a good substitute for the use of chemical agents if preceded by conducting experiments for the selection of the suitable mycorrhizal strains.

Keyword: Root-knot nematodes nematicides mycorrhiza Lypersicon esculentum ,AM fungus., Biological control, Meloidogyne incognita.

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