
Figure 1:
Graphical representation of the methodology to evaluate rotation of winter crops—with varying crop residue incorporation methods—to manage reniform nematode and cotton plant growth.
Table 1.
Schedule for plant data collection and management in greenhouse trials.
| Trial 1 | Trial 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | DAPa | Date | DAPa | |
| 1. Winter Crops | ||||
| 1.1 Planting and nematode inoculation | 12 November 2021 | 0 | 29 December 2022 | 0 |
| 1.2 Harvest | ||||
| • Dry OM treatments | 25 January 2022 | 74 | 14 March 2022 | 75 |
| • No OM treatments | 27 January 2022 | 76 | 16 March 2022 | 76 |
| • Fresh OM treatments | 27 January 2022 | 76 | 16 March 2022 | 76 |
| 1.3 OM incorporation | 28 January 2022 | 77 | 17 March 2022 | 78 |
| 2. Cotton | ||||
| 2.1 Planting | 8 February 2022 | 0 | 28 March 2022 | 0 |
| 2.2 Plant growth assessment | 6 April 2022 | 57 | 24 May 2022 | 57 |
| 2.2 Harvest | 10 April 2022 | 61 | 27 May 2022 | 60 |

Figure 2:
Reniform nematode (RN) in 100 cm3 of soil at winter crop termination in Trial 1 (A) and Trial 2 (B). Letters indicate treatment separation by Kruskal-Wallis with Bonferroni's method, P < 0.05. Data is displayed as boxplots.

Figure 3:
Reniform nematode (RN) in 100 cm3 of soil at cotton harvest, by crop and organic matter incorporation method, in Trial 1 (A) and Trial 2 (B). Ctrl= fallow control, No OM= rotation with no shoot organic matter (OM) incorporated. Fresh OM= treatments with fresh shoot OM, Dry OM= treatments with dry shoot OM. Fresh roots were incorporated in each treatment. Letters indicate treatment separation by Kruskal-Wallis with Bonferroni's method, P < 0.05. Data is displayed as boxplots.

Figure 4:
Reniform nematodes (RN) from cotton roots as affected by crop and organic matter incorporation treatments. Reniform nematode abundances are expressed as total RN (eggs plus vermiform nematodes) per gram of cotton roots in Trial 1 (A) and Trial 2 (B) Ctrl= fallow control, No OM= rotation with no shoot organic matter (OM) incorporated. Fresh OM= treatments with fresh shoot OM, Dry OM= treatments with dry shoot OM. Fresh roots were incorporated in each treatment. Letters indicate treatment separation by Kruskal-Wallis with Bonferroni's method, P < 0.05. Data is displayed as boxplots.

Figure 5:
Reniform nematode (RN) reproduction factor (total RN per pot final population/inoculated initial population), by crop, at cotton harvest in Trial 1 (A) and Trial 2 (B). Ctrl= fallow control, No OM= rotation with no shoot organic matter (OM) incorporated. Fresh OM= treatments with fresh shoot OM, Dry OM= treatments with dry shoot OM. Fresh roots were incorporated in each treatment. Letters indicate treatment separation by Kruskal-Wallis with Bonferroni's method, P < 0.05. Data is displayed as boxplots.
Table 2.
Winter crop residue measurements by crop rotation and residue incorporation method.
| Treatment | Trial 1a | |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh weight (g) of residues addedb | Final OM added (%w/w)c | |
| p-value | *** | *** |
| Rotation+No OMd | ||
| Carinata | 20.3 ± 1.6 b | 1.3 ± 0.1 bc |
| Hairy vetch | 27.0 ± 5.2 b | 1.8 ± 0.3 b |
| Oat | 68.4 ± 10.9 a | 4.5 ± 0.7 a |
| Rotation+Fresh OM | ||
| Carinata | 37.8 ± 3.0 b | 2.5 ± 0.2 b |
| Hairy vetch | 26.0 ± 7.5 b | 1.7 ± 0.5 b |
| Oat | 78.5 ± 5.4 a | 5.2 ± 0.3 a |
| Rotation+Dry OM | ||
| Carinata | 28.4 ± 2.5 b | 0.9 ± 0.0 bc |
| Hairy vetch | 26.9 ± 3.4 b | 1.4 ± 0.1 bc |
| Oat | 91.1 ± 2.7 a | 4.2 ± 0.3 a |
| Treatment | Trial 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh weight (g) of residues added | Final OM added (%w/w) | |
| p-value | *** | *** |
| Rotation+No OM | ||
| Carinata | 27.9 ± 2.2 abc | 0.6 ± 0.0 ef |
| Hairy vetch | 27.3 ± 7.3 abc | 1.4 ± 0.4 cd |
| Oat | 44.7 ± 4.8 a | 1.9 ± 0.1 bc |
| Rotation+Fresh OM | ||
| Carinata | 34.4 ± 3.1 abc | 2.2 ± 0.2 ab |
| Hairy vetch | 22.7 ± 4.2 c | 1.5 ± 0.2 cd |
| Oat | 42.9 ± 5.5 ab | 2.8 ± 0.3 a |
| Rotation+Dry OM | ||
| Carinata | 23.8 ± 2.9 bc | 0.6 ± 0.1 ef |
| Hairy vetch | 15.2 ± 2.9 c | 1.1 ± 0.2 de |
| Oat | 21.2 ± 2.9 c | 1.5 ± 0.2 cd |
a Mean ± standard error (n=6). Letters within the same plant parameter (column) indicate significant differences among the treatments by trial (Tukey HSD, α=0.05) with ANOVA “***”= P ≤ 0.01.
b Fresh weight for Rotation+No OM=root fresh weight, for Rotation+ Fresh OM and Rotation+dry OM=root fresh weight+shoot fresh weight.
Table 3.
Influence of winter crop rotation and residue incorporation method, on cotton growth and SPAD value in greenhouse conditions under the presence of reniform nematode.
| Treatment | Canopy cover | Height (cm) | Root fresh weight (g) | Root fresh weight (g) | Shoot fresh weight (g) | SPAD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trial 1a | ||||||
| p-valueb | ** | *** | *** | ns | *** | *** |
| Control - (Fallow) | 4.0 ± 0.3 abc | 10.8 ± 0.4 ab | 4.6 ± 0.4 e | 1.4 ± 0.1 | 4.7 ± 0.3 ab | 46.1 ± 0.9 a |
| Rotation+No OMc | ||||||
| Carinata | 5.2 ± 0.3 a | 12.0 ± 0.5 a | 13.3 ± 1.0 abc | 1.3 ± 0 | 5.3 ± 0.3 a | 38.8 ± 1.3 bc |
| Hairy vetch | 4.0 ± 0.3 abc | 10.7 ± 0.3 ab | 11.1 ± 0.9 bcd | 1.0 ± 0 | 4.3 ± 0.3 ab | 36.6 ± 1.1 c |
| Oat | 4.0 ± 0.5 abc | 10.4 ± 0.6 ab | 20.5 ± 2.7 a | 1.0 ± 0 | 3.8 ± 0.3 ab | 44.8 ± 1.2 ab |
| Rotation+Fresh OM | ||||||
| Carinata | 4.9 ± 0.4 ab | 11.8 ± 0.5 a | 11.0 ± 1.9 bcd | 1.3 ± 0.1 | 5.3 ± 0.4 a | 41.6 ± 0.7 abc |
| Hairy vetch | 3.9 ± 0.5 abc | 11.0 ± 0.7 ab | 6.3 ± 0.7 de | 1.1 ± 0.2 | 4.1 ± 0.6 ab | 38.2 ± 1.6 bc |
| Oat | 2.9 ± 0.2 c | 9.2 ± 0.5 b | 14.5 ± 2.1 ab | 0.9 ± 0.0 | 3.3 ± 0.2 b | 42.1 ± 1.3 abc |
| Rotation+Dry OM | ||||||
| Carinata | 3.8 ± 0.3 abc | 10.0 ± 0.4 ab | 7.4 ± 0.6 cde | 1.0 ± 0.0 | 4.0 ± 0.2 ab | 40.5 ± 1.4 abc |
| Hairy vetch | 3.9 ± 0.4 abc | 10.4 ± 0.6 ab | 4.7 ± 0.8 e | 0.9 ± 0.0 | 3.8 ± 0.3 ab | 37.9 ± 1.7 c |
| Oat | 3.2 ± 0.3 bc | 9.1 ± 0.3 b | 17.2 ± 2.2 ab | 0.9 ± 0.0 | 3.2 ± 0.2 b | 41.1 ±1.9 abc |
| Trial 2a | ||||||
| p-valueb | ns | ns | *** | ns | ns | ns |
| Control - (Fallow) | 5.5 ± 0.5 | 12.0 ± 0.6 | 4.0 ± 0.3 b | 1.6 ± 0.1 | 5.2 ± 0.4 | 56.2 ± 1.3 |
| Rotation+No OM | ||||||
| Carinata | 8.2 ± 1.7 | 14.0 ± 1.1 | 6.5 ± 0.6 ab | 1.9 ± 0.1 | 6.8 ± 0.6 | 49.9 ± 0.7 |
| Hairy vetch | 8.9 ± 2.7 | 16.5 ± 2.1 | 8.3 ± 1.4 a | 2.1 ± 0.3 | 6.8 ±1.2 | 47.8 ± 3.4 |
| Oat | 6.9 ± 0.8 | 13.5 ± 0.8 | 6.1 ± 0.6 ab | 1.7 ± 0.1 | 5.4 ± 0.4 | 49.6 ± 1.5 |
| Rotation+Fresh OM | ||||||
| Carinata | 9.8 ± 1.7 | 15.4 ± 1.2 | 8.5 ± 0.8 a | 2.4 ± 0.2 | 7.9 ± 0.8 | 49.2 ± 1.6 |
| Hairy vetch | 6.3 ± 1.2 | 13.1 ± 1.7 | 6.1 ± 1.3 ab | 1.8 ± 0.3 | 5.9 ± 1.3 | 48.7 ± 2.0 |
| Oat | 7.4 ± 0.9 | 14 ± 0.8 | 5.4 ± 1.0 ab | 2.0 ± 0.3 | 6.3 ± 0.8 | 52.4 ± 1.7 |
| Rotation+Dry OM | ||||||
| Carinata | 7.4 ± 1.6 | 14.6 ± 1.2 | 4.4 ± 1.0 b | 1.8 ± 0.2 | 5.9 ± 0.7 | 49.2 ± 1.3 |
| Hairy vetch | 7.2 ± 0.7 | 14.3 ± 0.5 | 6.0 ± 0.6 ab | 2.2 ± 0.1 | 6.7 ± 0.5 | 48.1 ± 1.8 |
| Oat | 6.8 ± 0.6 | 14.0 ± 0.7 | 4.8 ± 0.2 ab | 1.6 ± 0 | 5.4 ± 0.3 | 53.4 ± 1.4 |