MANAGEMENT OF SEED BORNE FUNGAL DISEASES OF TOMATO: A REVIEW.

Plant diseases caused by different kinds of microorganisms either carried through air, water or present in soil, seeds or propagative planting materials have adverse impact on agriculture production and economy worldwide. Apart from other crops vegetables are also subjected to several seed borne fungal, bacterial and viral pathogens, which cause substantial yield loss upto 10 percent in Pakistan. This article gives vast information regarding significance and prevalence of various kinds of seed borne mycoflora (Alternaria solani, Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani, Botrytis cineria, A. alternata, Chaetomium globosum, Curvularia lunata, Aspergillus niger, Drechslera specifer and Rhizoctonia solani) particularly associated with seeds of tomato. These mycoflora are causative agents of devastating tomato diseases like early blight, fusarium wilt and foot rots, grey mold, root and fruit rots. A range of conventional and modern techniques employed for seed borne fungal detection and different control strategies including chemical and biological methods opted by researchers have been reviewed in present paper. A variety of factors like availability of susceptible plants, favorable environmental conditions and overhead irrigation are serious constraints for plant disease development. Under these conditions, monitoring of plant health and detection of diseases particularly using seed detection assays to screen infested seed lots before planting provide effective disease management strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]