THE EFFECT OF PATHOGENIC SEED-BORNE FUNGI ON GREEN PEA (PISUM SATIVUM L.) EMERGENCE

1. The sowing value evidently depended on the degree of seed infestation with pathogenic seed-borne fungi, mainly Ascochyta, Fusarium, and Phoma genera, less with Alternaria tenuis.
2. Pathogenic seed-borne fungi caused decrease on the germination ability and emergence weight of 1000 seeds, plant healthiness, number of yielding plants, and seed yield.
3. Increase of the seed infection depended upon the degree of seed infestation in the sowing material and on weather conditions favourable to Ascochyta and Fusarium diseases.
4. Ascochyta pisi, A. pinodes, Phoma medicaginis var. pinodella produce distinctive spots on the seeds, Alternaria tenuis produce untypical spots, while Fusarium, Botrytis, Sclerotinia, Rhizoctonia fungi do not produce spots. However all fungi pathogenic to pea isolated from seeds can be transmitted asymptomatically.
5. It is necessary to evaluate the degree of seed infestation with pathogenic seed-borne fungi in routine investigations in Seed Testing Stations, especially when we consider that fungi or bacteria are not always isolated from spots found on seed skin.

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