Effect of Traditional Seed Treating Materials on Seed Deteriorative Fungi of Cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.) in Storage

In the study, post-stored seeds of cumin have been observed to have more incidence of seed-borne fungi. Traditional seed treating materials (TSTM), i.e., ash (cow dung), powders (lime, turmeric, neem leaf and common salt) and oils (= edible: mustard, coconut and soybean; = non-edible: castor and neem) found significantly superior over control as they minimise mean per cent incidence of seed-borne fungi at different storage period levels. Amongst TSTM tested, neem leaf powder followed by turmeric powder and neem oil followed by mustard oil were found to be most effective in reducing the incidence of seed-borne fungi at each storage period (2, 4 and 6 months of storage) with increased seed germination.