EVALUATION OF HEALTH STATUS OF SELECTED VEGETABLES SEED COLLECTED FROM DIFFERENT DISTRICTS OF BANGLADESH

Abstract

Seed health status of stem amaranth (Amaranthus lividus), water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica), Indian spinach (Basella alba), sweet gourd (Cucurbita moschata), snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina), ash gourd (Benincasa hispida), country bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), yard long bean (Vigna unguiculata), radish (Raphanus sativus) and carrot (Daucus carota) was determined by inspection of dry seed and blotter seed health testing method prescribed by ISTA in Seed Pathology Laboratory of Department of Plant Pathology, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during January 2016 to December 2016. The laboratory experiment was conducted following Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with four replications. Untreated, unknown grower’s/farmer’s bulk vegetables loose seeds were considered for this experiment. Seeds were collected from five districts viz. Dhaka, Rangpur, Thakurgaon, Panchagarh and Dinajpur. For Dhaka, truthfully labeled seed of BADC (Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation) was considered to compare the health status of collected seeds. In dry inspection, fungal mycelium (white and cottony) and sclerotia were observed. No physical abnormalities were found in BADC’s seeds, except sweet gourd, snake gourd, ash gourd. In most cases, the highest pure seeds were observed in BADC’s seeds whereas the lowest was found seeds from Thakurgaon district. Eight fungi viz. Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium spp., Alternaria spp. Curvularia spp., Chaetomium spp., Rhizopus spp. and Cercospora spp. were recorded from seeds by blotter method. Moreover one unidentified bacterium and one unknown fungus were also found in collected seed. In all tested seed sample, the common fungi were Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Fusarium spp., Chaetomium spp., Rhizopus spp. However, Alternaria spp. were present in stem amaranth, country bean, radish seeds. Curvularia spp. were present in water spinach, Indian spinach, sweet gourd, snake gourd, yard long bean and carrot seeds. The prevalence of fungi varied significantly with respect to seed categories and seed sources. The lowest seed borne fungal infection were observed in BADC seeds followed by seeds of different districts. Considering the findings, farmers are advised to collect vegetables seeds from reliable sources and should check their seed health status before sowing. Farmers are also suggested to do seed treatment by recommended chemicals or botanicals before sowing to prevent seed borne diseases in the field.