Seed-borne mycoflora of important oilseeds of Nagaland

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out to identify fungal infection of five oilseeds viz., rapeseed, mustard, soybean, sesame and perilla oilseeds via different seed health testing methods and seed germination. A total of six seed-borne fungi Aspergillus sp., Colletotrichum sp., Rhizopus sp., Penicillium sp., Nigrospora sp. and Trichoderma sp. were detected from the five oilseeds collected from local market of Medziphema, Nagaland. Amongst the seed health testing methods employed, PDA method was proved to be superior to blotter paper method and water-agar method. The fungal occurrence is more in PDA method with mean incidence of seed mycoflora 15.77%. The predominant fungus was observed to be Trichoderma sp. with 40.67% incidence and the least fungal incidence was of Nigrospora sp. (1.33%). Among the oilseeds, soybean seeds showed highest incidence of seed mycoflora (14.81%) and the lowest incidence of 4.24% was recorded from perilla seeds. The highest germination of oilseeds was recorded in PDA method (50.33%) followed by water-agar method (45.67%).