PAPER TITLE :PATHOGENICITY OF SEED-BORNE FUNGI ON SOYBEAN (GLYCINE MAX (L.) MERRIL) IN NIGERIA

FUTA JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE | VOLUME 14 NUMBER 1 2018

Paper Details

  • Author(s) : Oladimeji Ahmed, Olusegun Samuel Balogun, Abolarinwa Maryam and Lateef Adebola Azeez
  • Abstract:

Soybean provides an inexpensive and high quality source of protein worldwide as compared to animal protein but its production is constrained mainly by diseases which include the seed-borne diseases. Five seed-borne fungi isolated from fifteen soybean cultivars grown in the Guinea Savannah agro-ecology of Nigeria were evaluated for their pathogenicity on soybean cultivar TGX 1448-2E. The effect of the fungi was determined on seed viability, seedling biomass and plant morphology using the seedling symptom method. Translocation of the fungi in the seedlings was also determined. All the fungi reduced seed viability, mean root and shoot weight and seedling height significantly (p<0.05) with Phomopsis sp. being the most virulent. The result also showed that translocation of the fungi decreased from the root towards the upper part of the plant. The number of plants that showed symptoms of post-emergence damping off and stunting in response to inoculation with the different fungi and those with no symptom (normal seedlings) also differed significantly (p<0.05). Implications of the fungi on healthy growth of soybean are discussed.
Keywords: Pathogenicity, Soybean, Seed-borne fungi, Guinea Savannah, Nigeria