PREVALENCE OF SEED-BORNE FUNGI OF LOCAL AROMATIC RICE AND THEIR CONTROL BY PLANT EXTRACTS

DOI: http://doi.org/10.55706/ijbssr13101The health status of three varieties of local aromatic rice (Oryza sativa L.) seeds viz. Kalijira, Tulshimala, and Chinigura were detected at the farmers' level and collected from different locations of Gouripur Upazilla of Mymensingh district of Bangladesh. Three hundred sixty-three seed-borne fungal infections were recorded from 1500 seeds, representing 15 samples from five locations. This study revealed that around 23% of the rice seeds were infected by several fungi, such as B. oryzae, A. padwickii, C. lunata, F. moniliforme, F. emporium, and A. niger. Among the fungi, the most predominant fungi were F. oxysporum (22.3%), followed by F. moniliform (16.6%), A. flavus (14.87%), A. padwickii (14.32%) and A. niger (14.8%). The B. oryzae had the lowest (9.3%) seed-borne infection. Germination of seeds of the three selected aromatic rice varieties varied from 80.0-85.0%. The highest germination was found in the Chinigura rice variety (85%), while the lowest was in Kalijira. Seeds were treated with plant extracts, viz. neem, garlic and allamanda, with different doses to control the seed-borne pathogen. In treated seeds, germination ranged from 84%-87%, and infections were recorded at 0.95%-5.25%. Among the doses of all three plant extracts, 1:1 dilution showed significant performance in controlling seed-borne fungi and increasing the germination of rice seeds. Among the extracts, garlic extract @ 1:1 w/v was the best treatment for the per cent reduction of seed-borne infection.