Characterisation and control of Curvularia lunata infecting farmer-saved rice seeds in Ghana

Abstract

Curvularia species are increasingly important seed-borne fungi, whose identification has been done based solely on cultural and morphological features in Ghana. To confirm the identity of the fungus in Ghana, isolates of the fungus obtained from farmer-saved rice seeds were identified using cultural and morphological features, complemented with phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer regions of isolates. The susceptibility of isolates to three plant based fungicides, Levo, Kobe and Ex-icute was determined with in-vitro and in-vivo. All isolates produced curved shaped spores with several septations. In the phylogram, they all clustered in the C. lunata clade, confirming their C. lunata species status. All isolates were susceptible to the three organic fungicides and seeds treated with the three fungicides reduced fungal infection percentage. For safer environmental practices, these plant based fungicides are recommended for rice seed treatment.