OCCURRENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF VEGETABLES SEED-BORNE MYCOFLORA IN PUNJAB PAKISTAN

Abstract

Vegetables seeds are carrier of mycoflora inciting bulk of diseases, responsible for quality and yield losses. Majority of microbes are saprophyte and few are potential pathogen for the crop. In this research seed mycoflora were isolated by using standard blotter paper and agar plate technique. Major vegetables of summer and winter seeds were collected from regional local markets of Punjab province. Among these 15 fungal genera and 18 different species were identified. According to results highest incidence of fungal pathogens were Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Penicillium camemberti and Bipolaris spp. and low incidence of Stemphylium spp., Cladosporim spp., F. semitectum, Curvularia lunata, Rhizopus nigricans, Paecilomyces lilacinus, Fusarium oxysporum, Drechslera australiensis, Ascochyta spp., A. fumigatus, Rhizoctonia spp., Alternaria alternata and Chaetomium globosum. The agar plate method was found to be the most suitable technique for detection seed-borne fungi in vegetable seed. The results of this study could be helpful for management of seed borne fungal pathogens of different vegetables. Our findings may also helpful for seed treatment before sowing with appropriate fungicides to overcome the losses caused by seed borne fungi.