Assessment of different incubation methods for quantification of seed borne fungi of soybean and its effect on germination

An experiment was conducted to determine the seed borne fungi associated with Soybean and their effect on germination of four varieties viz., ‘JS 335’, ‘JS 9305’, ‘JS 9560’and ‘NRC 12’ under two categories of storage i.e. seeds stored in bins and bags by three different incubation methods i.e. Standard blotter, Agar plate and Rolled towel paper. The findings revealed that among the fourteen fungi detected from the seeds, out of these six fungi viz., Aspergillus flavus, A. alternata, Colletotrichumtruncatum, Fusarium oxysporum, Helminthosporium sp. and Rhizopus stolonifer were found predominently in all the four varieties. The seeds stored in bags showed lesser percentage of mycoflora associated and highest per cent germination in comparison to the seeds stored in bins. Standard Blotter method of incubation was found more effective among all the methods and the variety ‘NRC 12’ recordedhighest germination percentage followed by‘JS 9305’.