1Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta, Bangalore-6.
2Vegetable Section, Lalmandi, Srinagar.
*A part of the M. Sc. (Agri.) thesis, presented to Punjab University, Chandigarh in 1969 by second author.
Fungi belonging to 13 different genera were isolated from surface sterilized and surface unsterilized seeds of okra. Out of these, species belonging to 10 genera were identified. Cochliobolus lunatus, Stachybotrys echinulata and Phoma exigua appear to be new fungal records from India. Seed borne nature of Paecilomyces sp., Phoma exigua, Ascochyta abelmoschi, Aureobasidium pullulans, Curvularia lunata and Chaetomium globosum on okra seeds has been indicated. Pathogenicity of Ascochyta abelmoschi, Alternaria sp., and Curvularia lunata was established on seedlings. These caused considerable reduction in germination and affected adversely the vigour of the seedlings. Ascochyta abelmoschi has been shown to be seed borne on okra for the first time in India.
