Biological nematicides as an alternative for control of Meloidogyne incognita populations in yellow pitahaya (Sselenicereus megalanthus).

Yellow pitahaya in the Ecuadorian Amazon has become one of the most important economic crops in the region. However, the presence of pests (nematodes) in the soil has caused up to 100% of the crop's growth stages to be affected. Faced with this problem, growers use various chemical nematicides that minimize this impact but cause contamination problems. For this reason, the objective of the research was to evaluate microorganisms that control or reduce the population of Meloidogyne incognita in the pitahaya crop at the greenhouse level. The design was DBCA, and the statistical analysis was performed with the statistical package Infostat 2017, using linear mixed models and Fisher's tests at 5%. The results show that root nodules decrease when P. lilacinum + T. asperellum is applied after nematode injection (261). In addition, the lowest number of nodulations (251) was obtained when microorganisms were applied after nematode inoculation (251 nodulations). Still, when microorganisms were used before, aerial biomass growth was stimulated (384.17 g) even when nematodes were present in the root system. Keywords: microorganisms; nematodes; pitahaya.