Detection of Seed Borne Mycoflora of Soybean

Soybean is one of the most valuable legume crops in the world and an excellent source of vegetable oil. Seed borne pathogens are one of the important factors in reducing the yield of soybean. While conducting the study, seed samples of five cultivars viz., JS-335, MAUS-162, AMS-1001, AMS-MB-5-18 and MAUS-71 collected and tested for the association of seed borne mycoflora by using standard blotter paper method, standard agar plate method and rolled paper towel method as per the standards of ISTA. Total nine seed borne mycoflora including saprophytic and parasitic fungi viz., A. alternata, R. bataticola, C. lunata, F. solani, C. cladosporioides, D. rostrata, A. niger, A. flavus and R. stolonifer etc. were found associated with soybean. Among the different detection method tested, highest frequency of occurrence of seed borne fungi was recorded in standard blotter method. In that Fusarium solani had the highest frequency of occurrence (25.25%), followed by A. flavus (16.75%), A. niger (13.27%), D. rostrata (4.90%), A. alternata (4.22%), C. lunata (3.97%), C. cladosporioides (3.45%), and R. stolonifer (3.50%). Detection of R. bataticola was observed in standard agar plate method with a frequency of occurrence was 18.35%.