Fungi occurrence on seeds of field pea

Abstract

Seeds of four edible cultivars of Pisum sativum and three fodder harvested in 2004-2006 from eight localities, scattered in all region suitable for pea production in Poland, were evaluated for fungi occurrence on CN agar medium in Petri plates. The highest number (27) of species was isolated in 2004, while the lowest (16) in 2006. Number of fungi inhabiting seeds was influenced mainly by environmental conditions of locality and years. Alternaria alternata dominated in each sample of 450 seeds. Species of Penicillium contaminated seeds as the next and infection by Stemphylium botryosum was at similar level. Fusarium poae was the most often occurring species of this genera. Pea specific pathogens: Mycosphaerella pinodes, Phoma pinodella and Ascochyta pisi infected more seeds in 2004 and 2005 than 2006, and at the last season only A. pisi was noted. In general, level of infection by those pathogens was low, reaching on an average only 2.56%, with the highest for A. pisi, and the lowest for M. pinodes.