Effect of seed treatment on the incidence of seed-borne diseases of okra

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to know the effect of seed treatment on the incidence of seed-borne fungal diseases and on production of seed yield of okra. The lowest germination (95.0%) was recorded in unclean farmer's seeds; while highest germination (99.0%) was recorded in Vitavax-200 treated seeds followed by clean apparently healthy seeds (98.5%). Seed-borne fungal diseases of okra in the field, five diseases viz. Foot and root rot, Anthracnose and die-back, Cercospora leaf spot, Corynespora leaf spot and leaf blight, respectively caused by Fusarium oxysporum, Colletotrichum dematium, Cercospora abelmoschi, Corynespora cassiicola and Macrophonina phaseolina were recorded. The incidence of five seed-borne diseases have been found to be reduced by the use of seeds treated with Vitavax-200 and clean apparently healthy seeds. Vitavax-200 treated seeds as well as clean apparently healthy seeds increased the seed yield by 21.62 and 15.31%, respectively, over the unclean farmers' seeds.