Isolation and Identification of Fungal Pathogens Associated with Diseases of Onion Crop in District Swat, Pakistan

Abstract

Onion is an important vegetable and a source of income for formers in District Swat, Pakistan. However, the crop is attacked by several pathogens i.e. fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes. Therefore, a study was carried out for the estimation of fungal diseases of onion crop in district Swat. Within this study, about 50 samples of diseased onion crop were collected from 17 different regions of District Swat. The most prevalent fungal borne onion diseases were black mold (38%), onion rust (32%), Blue Mold Rot (10%) and seedling. Fungal species were consistently isolated from all infected samples. In which Aspergillus was isolated from 82% samples, Puccinia Alli was from 70%, Alternaria porri from 52%, Fusarium spp from 42% Penicillium spp from 40%, Peronospora destructor from 35%, Pyhtaium from 23% and Rhizoctonia solani from 18% of samples. These fungal species consistently isolated and cultured from diseased onion plants of different fields in Swat. Keywords: Onion crop, Fungal diseases, Aspergillus.