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STUDIES ON SEED HEALTH
Author(s) -
MUSKETT A. E.
Publication year - 1958
Publication title -
annals of applied biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 80
eISSN - 1744-7348
pISSN - 0003-4746
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7348.1958.tb02224.x
Subject(s) - thiram , biology , alternaria , contamination , fungicide , limiting , botrytis cinerea , horticulture , agronomy , fusarium , toxicology , ecology , mechanical engineering , engineering
An account is given of the survey made in 1940‐55 to determine the incidence of the seed‐borne fungal parasites of flax. It was shown that fibre flax seed produced in eastern and south‐eastern England was relatively free from contamination with Colletotrichum linicola, Polyspora lini and Phoma sp. and that there was no build‐up of infection in seed stocks in these areas. In the wetter and cooler regions west and north of the Pennines, conditions were more favourable for these fungi, and seed contamination tended to increase. Seed contamination with Botrytis cinerea was general throughout the United Kingdom, with a tendency to be higher in coastal and upland areas. The incidence of Fusarium lini and Alternaria linicola in fibre flax seed produced in the United Kingdom was negligible. The examination of seed samples from other countries indicated the possible importance of P. lini in Denmark, of B. cinerea and C. linicola in the Netherlands, of A. linicola as a contaminant of oil flax seed in Sweden, and of C. linicola in parts of Canada. Seed disinfection, using a thiram product, proved useful for the control of flax diseases in general, but should be used as an ancillary to the method of avoiding seed infection by limiting the production of seed flax to areas where the risk of contamination is slight or absent. Where there is any risk of a build‐up of contamination, seed disinfection should be carried out as a routine practice each season.