Seed-borne fungi associated with cauliflower seeds and their role in seed germination
2012
Ismail, M. (Nuclear Inst. of Agriculture, Tandojam (Pakistan)) | Anwar, S.A. (Punjab Univ., Lahore (Pakistan). Inst. of Agricultural Sciences) | ul-Haque, M.I. (PMAS Arid Agriculture Univ., Rawalpindi (Pakistan). Dept. of Plant Pathology) | Iqbal, A. (Sugarcane Research Inst., Faisalabad (Pakistan)) | Ahmad, N. | Arain, M.A.
Seeds of five Cauliflower cultivars Faisalabad Agaiti-1, Faisal Agaiti-2, Snow Drift, Local-1 and Shehzadi, used in this investigation were obtained from Taxila, Abbottabad, and Khushab. A total of 15 seed samples were tested using the standard blotter paper method to find the seed borne fungi and their role in seed germination. Ten fungal genera were identified among the fungi isolated from seeds. Alternaria (14.8%) was the most common genus. The other common genera in order of prevalence were Helminthosporium (12.8%), Aspergillus falvus (8.2%), Rhizopus (5.6%), Curvularia (4.8%), A. niger (4.6%), Cercospora (3.8%), Fusarium (3.4%) and Chaetomium (3.2%). The fungal incidence (3.2 to 22 %) and range of occurrence (0 to 23) among identified genera was found variable. Among five cultivars tested highest fungal incidence of 10.1% with minimum seed germination of 78% was observed on the seeds of cauliflower cv.Local-1. While minimum fungal incidence of 6.5% and with maximum seed germination of 86% was observed on the seeds of Cauliflower cv. Snow Drift. All other three cultivars had intermediate fungal incidence and level of seed germination. These findings suggest the use of chemical treated seed for sowing to enhance the seed germination to get optimum crop stand. It also suggests to adopt precautionary measures to avoid the seed contamination by field fungi during threshing.
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