Abstract
Brazil is a major producer and exporter of beef in the world, 90% of the production is made in pasture and 85% of cultivated pastures in the country are Brachiaria sp. With a growing livestock industry in the recent years, several forage plant diseases became significant importance for causing losses in pasture productivity and quality. This study aims at quantifying the species of fungi associated with seeds and their frequency in forage plants from tropical regions of Brazil. Assays were performed considering: incidence, pathogenicity and seed-seedling transmission of fungi associated with seeds. Therefore, 28 lots of forage species seeds produced in the harvest of 2010-2011 were used. Fourteen genera of fungi associated with seeds were found, among which Bipolaris sp., Phoma sp., and Curvularia sp. had pathogenic potential. It was possible to note that Bipolaris sp., is prejudicial to forage seedlings of Brachiaria, Panicum and Crotalaria. Bipolaris sp. and Curvularia sp. have an average of seed-seedling transmission of 100% and 90%, respectively.
Highlights
Brazil is the second major producer and exporter of beef in the world, 90% of the production is made in pasture and 85% of cultivated pastures in the country are Brachiaria sp. (Ferraz and Felício, 2010)
With the purpose of increasing this knowledge, a health analysis was carried out aiming at quantifying the species of fungi associated with seeds and their frequency in forage plants from tropical regions of Brazil
Transportation of fungi associated with forage plant seeds
Summary
Brazil is the second major producer and exporter of beef in the world, 90% of the production is made in pasture and 85% of cultivated pastures in the country are Brachiaria sp. (Ferraz and Felício, 2010). Brazil is the second major producer and exporter of beef in the world, 90% of the production is made in pasture and 85% of cultivated pastures in the country are Brachiaria sp. The country has increased its planted pasture area in approximately 341% from 1970 to 2006. It is mentioned as the largest supplier of seeds for cultivation and regeneration of pasture of the domestic market and largest exporter of tropical forage plants worldwide (Deminicis et al, 2010). The world pressure for reduction of deforestation in Brazil and the following intensification of livestock have increased the degradation of pastures. The diseases caused by fungi that reduce the pasture quality and productivity are among the reasons for this degradation (Vechiato et al, 2010). The use of low sanitary quality seed lots is frequent, seed lots with excessive vegetal residues, soil residues and/or seeds of other forage plants and weeds (Marchi et al, 2010)
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