摘要：Entomopathogenic nematodes, especially ICRI-18, a strain of Heterorhabditis indica, are being used asefficient biological control agent for a sub-terranean pest called Basilepta fulvicorne affecting cardamomplant roots. The cardamom plantation has been spread over the western ghats of south India where H. indica(strain ICRI-18) is used for the control of root grub. Salinity plays a significant role in microbial interactionsand all inhabitants of soil. As the method of irrigation varies from place to place so does the salinity of waterand soil. As salinity plays a key role in survival of soil organisms, the aim behind the present study was toinvestigate the compatibility of the bio-control agents with salinity. The effect of sodium chloride over H.indica at various concentrations (0.1M to 0.5M) was evaluated. The observations revealed that salinity didcause a proportional mortality to that of salt concentration. However, more than 80% of nematodes survivedup to 0.3M concentration, after which there was a drastic reduction of the nematode population. The nematodepopulation reduced at 0.4 M considerably, which can be concluded that salinity of the soil at cardamomplantations did not cause any adverse effect on the nematodes.
