Effect of foliar dehydroascorbate (DHA) treatment on rice susceptibility to Meloidogyne graminicola. Two‐week‐old rice plants were treated with DHA followed by nematode inoculation (250/plant) 1 day posttreatment (DPT). (a) Effect of 1, 5, 10, 20, or 30 mM DHA on plant susceptibility to M. graminicola recorded 14 days after nematode inoculation (14 DPI). Effect of 20 mM DHA on (b) galls and (c) nematodes recorded 3 DPI. Effect of 20 mM DHA on (d) galls and (e) nematodes recorded 14 DPI. Bars represent the means and standard error of eight replicates. The whole experiment was independently repeated three times, providing confirmatory results. Different letters on error bars within a group indicate a statistically significant difference (Duncan's multiple range test, α = 0.05). Asterisks on error bars indicate statistically significant differences with the mock‐treated control plants (Student's t test, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01).