In an area naturally infested with Meloidogyne incognita race 3, located in Primavera do Leste, Mato Grosso State, Brazil, the performance of 21 cotton genotypes having different levels of tolerance to this parasitic nematode was studied, in the presence or absence of crop rotation with Crotalaria spectabilis. A general trend was observed for crop rotation to reduce the severity of symptoms exibited by plant sowing to nematode incidence, and lead to increased cotton yield. However, its effect was not sufficient to increase the performance of genotypes with low tolerance to the parasite, which, even under the crop rotation schem, had disease sympton rates that were 142% higher and cotton yields that were 57% lower than those obtained for more tolerant genotypes. High correlation between average yield in the presence or absence of crop rotation, and absence of interaction between genotype and crop rotation, indicated that, although at higher yield level being achieved, the tendency of genotype performance remained the same in both systems. The yield of the three more tolerant genotypes in the absence of crop rotation was 48% superior to that of the three least tolerant genotypes under crop rotation. The minimum possible losses, attributable to the use of susceptible genotypes, were estimated at 37% and 29%, respectively, without crop rotation being used or under conditions of crop rotation.
cotton; crop rotation; root-knot nematode; tolerance
