Location and Transmission of Phomopsis vexans, Alternaria solani in Brinjal

Brinjal is an very important vegetable crop in India. The crop is affected by number of diseases. Among them, phomopsis blight by Phomopsis vexans and leaf spots by Alternaria solani, reduce the seed germination and yield upto 30-50 percent. Present study is concentrated on the location and transmission of Phomopsis vexans and Alternaria solani in brinjal seeds during 2001-2002 kharif and rabi season in Karnataka. A total of 145 seed samples were collected from farmers, agroagencies and seeds extracted from fruits were subjected for standard blotter method (SBM). Five samples showing higher incidence of seed borne fungi in SBM were selected for studying the location and transmission of the pathogen. The results revealed the presence of P. vexans (0-10 percent) and A. solani (3-10 percent) in the SBM method. Phomopsis vexans ranged from 0-2 percent in seed coat, 0-4 percent in cotyledons and 0-4 percent in embryonic axis. Their distribution varied in diffrent seed parts. The seeds harvested during kharif and rabi season favoured the more number of pathogens in the seed coat than in the other components. The transmission of P. vexans and A. solani was 10.6 percent in kharif. In rabi, the transmission was 16.8 percent in all the five seed samples. The present study revealed that the disease transmission is more during rabi than kharif season.