Studies on death of deteriorated barley seeds in soil
1983
PERRY, D. A. | ELLERTON, D. R.
Seeds of barley cv. Golden Promise which had been deteriorated by storing at 20% moisture content and 30 °C and which all had viabilities >85% were treated with a slurry of calcium peroxide and with dusts of a mercurial and a nonâmercurial fungicide. Calcium peroxide improved seedling emergence in wet soil conditions and deteriorated seeds benefited more than nonâdeteriorated seeds. The fungicide dusts had no effects. In controlled conditions at 20 °C, deteriorated seeds in wet soil died mainly within 2 days of sowing and they were more tolerant if they were placed in moist soil for 2 days before transfer to wet soil. Application of a mercurial fungicide and sterilizing the soil and the surface of seeds improved emergence but did not restore it to the level in moist soil. Fusarium culmorum, F. equiseti, Mucor spp. and Mortierella spp. dominated the fungus flora isolated from surface sterilised dead seeds in wet soil. When the fungi were inoculated to seeds, they increased the proportion which died in wet soil but only at high inoculum levels. It was concluded that they acted primarily as saprophytes depriving seeds of oxygen and secondarily as seed colonisers.
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