Pre-Emergence Injuries Caused By The Microflora Of Stored Rice, Pea and Gram Seeds and Benificial effects of Fungicidal Seed-Dressing.

Many fungi are carried exclusively through seed and cause serious plant
diseases. In the godowns, during storage, saprophytic fungi often cause seed
rotting if the moisture and temperature conditions are favourable for their growth.
Moreover when such defectively stored seed is sown, the soil inhabiting fungi cause
further seed rotting and pre-emergence injuries. Literature from foreign countries
shows that a protective covering of the seed by fungicidal substances prevents seed
rotting and is generally helpful in establishing a healthy and vigorous growth of
the seedlings. In India such studies had been comparatively few. Gopal Swarup
(1950) studied the fungus flora of the stored wheat, oat and maize seed and the
damage caused by some of the seed-borne fungi. When seeds were treated with
various fungicides, the pre-emergence injuries were appreciably checked and the
seedlings showed a good stand. Murthi (1951) carried out similar studies with
sorghum and barley seed, and the authors extended these studies on rice, pea and
gram seeds which form the subject matter of this paper.