Vol. 10, Issue 12 (2021)

Author(s):
Pradnya R Khillare, Sunita J Magar and Vishakha K Bagul

Abstract:
An investigation was conducted to detect the associated seed mycoflora in pigeonpea and its control. A total of 5 varieties of pigeonpea seed were collected from Agriculture Research Station, Badnapur. Standard agar plate methods and modified PDA method were used for detection of seed mycoflora of pigeonpea seeds. Across the two methods adopted, a total of ten fungal genera including Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Rhizopus stolonifer, Macrophomina phaseolina, Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. udum, Alternaria alternata, Botrytis cinera, Aspergillus sp., Trichoderma sp. and Cladosporium sp. with the seeds of pigeonpea were detected. The fungi detected were identified based on their cultural and morphological characteristics. Among the ten fungal species detected the occurrence of A. niger was observed (57.75, 53.58, 37.32, 35.20 and 32.67%, respectively) in cultivars ICP-8863, ICP-2376, BSMR-736, BDN-708 and BSMR-853, followed by the fungi A. flavus (31.10, 17.15, 16.33, 14.60 and 12.05%, respectively) in cultivars ICP-8863, BSMR-736, BSMR-853, BDN-708 and ICP-2376 in Standard agar plate method. In modified PDA method maximum frequency of Botrytis cinerea was observed (55.00, 52.50, 30.00 and 25.80%, respectively) in var. BSMR-736, BSMR-853, ICP-2376 and ICP-8863, followed by fungi A. niger (40.10, 37.45, 32.50, 10.00 and 0.00,respectively) in the cultivars ICP-2376, ICP-8863, BDN-708 and BSMR-736, Per cent infectivity of seed mycoflora varied across the methods adopted and varieties tested. The highest per cent infectivity of 57.75% was observed with the fungus A. niger on ICP-8863 in Standard agar plate methods. In modified PDA method the highest per cent infectivity of 55.00% was observed with the fungus Botrytis cinerea on BSMR-736.