Seed-borne pathogens in okra fruit rot

Tai Luang Huan and Md. Musa bin Jamil

Abstract

Rhizoctonia sp and Choanephora cucurbitarum were the causal organisms of Hibiscus esculentus (okra) fruit rot. The symptoms produced by these fungi were described and crop loss was estimated to be 20% in the diseased plot. Both the fungi were found to be seed- borne. Two isolates of Rhizoctonia sp. were obtained from infected seeds,one of which resembled the isolate from naturally infected fruit while the other was morphologically different. They were both pathogenic to non-detached, wounded and unwounded green fruit and 10-day old seedlings of okra. The seed-borne isolate of C. cucurbitarum on the other hand was pathogenic to non-detached flowers and wounded fruit but not unwounded fruit and seedlings.Hot water treatment at 60ºC for 30 minutes was effective in elimiaating the seed-borne fungi without affecting the viability of the seeds.

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