Seed-borne <I>Macrophomina phaseolina</I> in Mungbean: Effect on Seed Viability, Vigour and Storability

Abstract

Macrophomina phaseolina is a causal organism of charcoal rot disease of mungbean being a seed-borne fungus. To know the actual detrimental effect of this fungus on seed quality of mungbean, the experiment was undertaken by comparing inoculated and uninoculated seeds. Artificially inoculated seeds of three mungbean varieties with M. phaseolina, showed three fold lower normal seedlings in comparison to non-inoculated seeds. The mean shoot length, root length and dry weight of seedlings, which implies the seedling vigour, were also found significantly reduced in every inoculated mungbean variety. Accelerated aging test (AA-test) showed almost three times less normal seedlings in inoculated seeds compared to control in all varieties, which indicates that M. phaseolina can reduce the storability of mungbean seed greatly. In AA-test, the proportion of dead and rotten seeds in the inoculated treatments appeared to be two to three folds higher than that of control treatment. However, no significant change in hard seed formation was found in both viability test and in the AA-test.