EFFECTS OF PARTRIDGE PEA PEANUT ROTATIONS ON POPULATIONS OF MELOIDOGYNE-ARENARIA, INCIDENCE OF SCLEROTIUM-ROLFSII, AND YIELD OF PEANUT

The value of partridge pea (Cassia fasciculata) as a rotation crop for the management of root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne arenaria) and southern blight (Sclerotium rolfsii) in 'Florunner' peanut (Arachis hypogaea) was assessed in a B-year field experiment. Partridge pea did not support significant numbers of M. arenaria juveniles in soil. When peanut followed partridge pea, the numbers of juveniles were always lower than in plots with continuous peanut. Aldicarb applied to peanut following 2 years of partridge pea resulted in increased yields over continuous peanut without nematicide. When the nematicide was applied to peanut following 1 year of partridge pea, yields were improved in 2 out of the three years when peanuts were planted in this cropping system. Peanut without nematicide following 1 year of partridge pea yielded more than peanut monoculture in only 1 out of the 3 years when peanuts were planted in this system. Yields of peanut without nematicide following 2 years of partridge pea were higher than those obtained with continuous peanut with or without nematicide in 1 out of the 2 possible years when plots with this rotation were in peanut. Application of aldicarb to continuous peanut failed to increase yields in all but two years of the study. Partridge pea had no effect on the incidence of southern blight in peanut.