Occurrence and control of seedborne pathogenic fungi of tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) seeds from five agro-ecological zones of Ghana using plant extracts

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2010
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Abstract
Laboratory and Plant House experiments were carried out to determine the presence and significance of pathogenic fungi on tomato seeds collected from five different Agro- Ecological Zones of Ghana and their possible control using aqueous plant extracts. Out of the 80 seed samples tested for seedborne fungal pathogens, a total of 10 genera of 15 species of fungi were recorded. Fusarium moniliforme was the most prevalent seedborne fungal specie with a mean percentage incidence of 4.24. Members of Aspergillus spp (storage fungi) group represented half of all identified species. The Blotter test revealed infection percentages of 3.0-85.5%, 5.0 -56. 0%, 13.0 – 76.0%, 7.0-33.0%, and 11.5 – 58. 0% in respect of all 80 seed samples tested from Transitional, Forest, Coastal Savannah, Guinea and Sudan Savannah Zones of Ghana respectively. The highest infected seed sample according to the Blotter test method was soaked in sterile water extracts (50, 40 and 30% w/v) of Azadirachta indica seed, Zingiber officinale rhizomes and Cassia alata leaves for 1, 6 and 12 hours. Apart from seedling mortality, there were no significant differences in respect of the 3-way interactive effects between plant extracts, concentration and soaking period for all other parameters studied. There were however, significant differences for the 2-way interactive effects between plant extracts and concentration and between plant extracts and soaking period in the other parameters studied. All the plant extracts had significant inhibitory effects on growth of the important seedborne fungal pathogens. Results further revealed that plant extracts did not reduce seed germination and seedlings population. However, the highest percentage seedling mortality 4.67 was recorded with Cassia extract (30% w/v) soaked for 1 hour. Zingiber officinale extracts at all concentration levels (50,40 and 30% w/v) were more effective than other plant extracts and also compared favourably with mancozeb (a standard fungicide) in respect of control of the most important seedborne fungal pathogen, percent seed germination, seedlings population and reduction in seedling mortality.
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A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (Seed Science and Technology)
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