Management of Seed Health of Pulses Using Plant Extracts

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is affected by seventeen seed-borne fungi. These fungi caused adverse effects on seed health and yield. Application of synthetic fungicides causes damage to consumers and environment. Therefore, petroleum ether plant part extracts of locally available plants are tried to control seed mycoflora and to boost overall seed health of the pulse. Almost all plant extracts showed restrictive effect on seed mycoflora of the test pulse. Significant plants that controlled seed mycoflora in higher percents are Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Cyperus rotundus L., Ocimum basilicum L., O. americanum L., O. sanctum L. etc.


Introduction
Chick pea (Cicer arietinum L.) is an important pulse crop in Maharashtra, it is affected by different fungal pathogens as seed mycoflora which is harmful to seed health, seed content and ultimately to yield. Association of the fungi with the seed has found to be harmful to the seed health and seed content. Total seventeen seed-borne fungi (Alternaria tenuis, A. alternate, Aspergillus carbonarius, A. flavus, A. niger, A. nidulans, A. fumigatus, Cladosporium spp., Colletotrichum truncatum, Chaetomium globosum, Curvularia lunata, Drechslera tetramera, Fusarium moniliforme, Fusarium oxysporum, Penicillium spp., Rhizopus stolonifer, Macrophomina phaseolina) were isolated from the test pulse, on Agar plates and Moist blotters. Agar plates showed more fungal incidence compared to Moist blotters. Among seventeen fungi isolated and identified, six dominant fungi Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, Drechslera tetramera, Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizopus stolonifer taken for the study. These six dominant seed-borne fungi of Green gram were tested against plant extracts of eighteen commonly and locally available plants.

Preparation of petroleum ether plant extracts
Five g powder of each of the plant parts was dissolved separately in mixture of 50 ml petroleum ether and 50 ml distilled water; in 250 ml borosil glass conical flasks. The flasks were kept in oven (Metlab) for 24 hours at 60 o C and the content was filtered through Whatman filter paper No.1. The filtrates were used as 5% plant extracts.
2.2 Evaluation of seed mycoflora and seed health (seed germination, seedling emergence, shoot, and root length) of pulse. During present studies, the seeds of Black gram were soaked separately in the leaf, stem, and root petroleum ether extracts (petroleum ether and water 1:1) of the selected plants for 24 hours. The effect of extracts on seed health was studied by placing seeds of test pulse on moist blotter plates and incubated for ten days at room temperature. On eleventh day percent seed mycoflora, seed germination, root and shoot length was recorded. The seeds soaked in sterile distilled water served as control.
For seedling emergence, seeds of Black gram were treated as mentioned above and sown in earthen pots containing sterilized soil for ten days; at room temperature. On eleventh day percent, seedling emergence, root, and shoot length was recorded. The seeds soaked in sterile distilled water served as control.

Results and Discussion
Almost all plants showed restrictive effect on seed mycoflora and stimulatory or supportive activity on seed germination, shoot and root length in more or less quantity.
It is evident from the tabulated result that, all the plant extracts were found to be supportive or stimulatory for seedling emergence, shoot and root length of the test pulse in more or less degree, with some exceptions (Table 1). Table 1 Effect of petroleum ether extract (petroleum ether and water 1:1) of different plant parts on Seed mycoflora and seed health (seed germination, shoot and root length) of Chick pea (Cicer arietinum L.) on blotter (after ten days of incubation) There was maximum seedling emergence due to plant extracts of Azadirachta  (2014) tried Argemon maxicana and Calatropis gagantia extracts on root rot of Chickpea and found to be effective. Manoorkar et al. (2015) reported antifungal effect of ethanol and aqueous extracts of leaf & latex of Calatropis procera (Ait.) against ten seed-borne dominant fungi viz., Curvularia lunata, Alternaria alternata, Rhizoctonia solani, Fusarium solani, Penicillium chrysogenum, Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, A. terrus A. fumigatus, and Rhizopus sp. Zakaria et al. (2015) found that ethanolic extracts of Datura strumanium, Mentha longifolia and Malva parviflora were effective against Alternaria alternata, Botrytis cinerea, and Penicillium italicum.