Pesticide Research Journal

Cowpea, lentil and mungbean are the important pulses grown and consumed in India. The seeds of these crops are attacked by number of pathogens under field and storage, which crucially reduce seed viability, germination and seedling vigour, inflicting huge losses in crop yield and quality. The recommendations related to the maintenance of seed quality during storage of these pulses are very limited, hence present study was under taken. The seeds of selected cultivars of these pulses were treated with captan and carbendazim 50% WP fungicides @ 2.0 g kg^-1 seed and stored under ambient conditions. Effect of treatments and storage on seed quality parameters viz., seedling vigour index I, germination percentage and speed of germination were determined using International Seed Testing Association (ISTA) rules at three months interval. In all, 20 fungi were found associated with seeds of different cultivars of pulse crops. After 18 months of storage, maximum incidence of Aspergillus flavus (18.8%) followed by Aspergillus fumigatus (14.8%), Aspergillus niger (12.1%) and Alternaria alternata (10.7%) was recorded on untreated seeds of cowpea cv. Pusa Sukomal. The germination (percentage and speed) and seedling vigour index I of stored seed reduced with the increase in storage period, whereas the total number of fungi increased with the storage period. However, germination in seeds of all pulse cultivars remained above IMSCS (>75%) even after 18 months of storage.