INCIDENCE OF STORAGE FUNGI ACCORDING TO TOPDRESSING NITROGEN AND MAIZE VARIETIES

Abstract

Maize is the main cereal grown in Brazil and is used mainly for animal feed and food consumption of its derivates. Under favorable environmental conditions, toxigenic fungi such as Fusarium, Aspergillus, and Penicillium spp. could produce mycotoxins in maize grain during plant growth or storage. This study aimed to evaluate the incidence of toxigenic fungi and its relationship with the grain weight of maize varieties grown under high and low topdressing nitrogen. The first factor consisted of 11 open-pollinated varieties, and the second factor of two topdressing nitrogen rates (60 and 180 kg ha-1). After harvesting the experimental units, the following variables were evaluated: 100-grain weight (HGW) and incidence of A. flavus, Penicillium spp., and Fusarium spp. There were differences (p<0.05) among maize varieties for all evaluated variables. There was a significant interaction between varieties and nitrogen for the percentage of seeds infected by A. flavus, Fusarium spp., and HGW. The incidence of fungi and HGW of maize depends on the variety and the topdressing nitrogen used.