Bio-priming of cucurbits and okra seeds with culture filtrates of Trichoderma harzianum for controlling seed-borne fungi

Culture filtrates collected from Trichoderma harzianum were assayed to control seed-borne fungi of selected vegetables viz. bottle gourd, wax gourd, sweet gourd, snake gourd and okra. Three fungal genera comprising of four species viz. Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicillium spp. and Fusarium oxysporum were found to be associated with most of the vegetable seeds. Among the seed borne fungi the highest incidence was recorded in case of A. niger (49.2%) followed by A. flavus (40.6%) and F. oxysporum (40.2%). Five treatments viz. 1%, 3%, 5%, 7% aqueous solution of culture filtrates and control (without culture filtrate) were assayed against individual seed-borne fungal pathogen following poison food technique. Among the treatments, 7% aqueous solution of culture filtrate showed superior performance by…