Prevalence of fungi associated with storage seeds of different maize varieties

A total of seven species of fungi were isolated from seed samples of maize (Zea mays L.) collected from Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Joydebpur, Gazipur. Association of fungi with maize seeds was recorded three times viz., within a month after harvest, after three and six months of storage at 25°C and 4°C. The fungal association varied with duration of storage period. Seven fungi viz., Aspergillus flavus Link, A. fumigatus Fresenius, A. niger Van Teighem, Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boedijn, Fsarium verticillioides, Penicillium italicum and Rhizopus stolonifer (Ehrenb.) Vuill., were isolated from the different maize varieties namely KhaiBhutta, Barnali, Mohor, Bari Misty Bhutta, BHM-3, BHM-5, BM-5, BHM-6, BHM-7, BM-7 and BHM-9. Species of Aspergillus, Penicillium and Rhizopus were predominating fung iwhich increased with the increase of storage period.