Abstract
The effect of Mucor racemosus and Rhizopus nigricans inoculation (g and 0.1 g L-1 distilled water) and a seed dressing fungicide Seedplus® (1.25 g 0.5 kg-1 seeds) on germination and seedling vigour of watermelon (cv. Chaliston gray) was investigated. The experiment involved a complete randomized design (CRD) with three replicates. It was confirmed that the combined inocula with higher density caused significantly poor germination and low seedling vigour (P ≤ 0.05) than those seeds inoculated with lower inocula density. Higher germination percentage and seedling vigour were observed with single fungus inoculation than with the two fungi inoculation. Dressing of the fungi-infected seeds with Seedplus® 30 WS significantly improved germination percentage and seedling vigour of watermelon (P ≤ 0.05) but not as high as that of the control. Key words: Mucor racemosus, Rhizopus nigricans, Seedplus.
Highlights
In Nigeria, the largest production of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus Thumb Family Cucurbitaceae) comes from the northern part of the country, where the suitable agroecology is found (IITA, 2007)
At five days after sowing (DAS), the germination percentage of watermelon seeds inoculated with high inoculum density (M. racemosus + R. nigricans (g L-1) had the lowest percentage germination (46.67%) (Table 1)
At 5 DAS, length of plumule (2.45 cm) from the seeds applied with M. racemosus + R. nigricans (g L-1) was significantly lower (P≤ 0.05) than those applied with M
Summary
In Nigeria, the largest production of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus Thumb Family Cucurbitaceae) comes from the northern part of the country, where the suitable agroecology is found (IITA, 2007). Its fruits are mostly threatened by some pathogenic fungi which are seed-borne and soil-borne such as Mucor spp. and Rhizopus spp. (Pamela and Tom, 2006) The effects of such fungi on the seedlings include poor germination, low seedling vigour and even complete failure of seedlings. Much work has been done on investigating and discovery of fungal diseases that affect the fruits, there are no substantial report on the effect of pathogenic fungi on the seeds and seedling of watermelon. This study assessed the effect of Mucor racemosus and Rhizopus nigricans individually and in combination, and confirmed the efficacy of Seedplus® fungicide on germination and seedling of infected watermelon seeds
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