Health and physiological quality of corn seeds treated with fungicides and assessed during storage

At post-harvest period, quality of corn seeds may be influenced by several important factors such as: presence of harmful microorganisms, chemical treatments, host species genotype and storage conditions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of corn seeds, hybrids 2B 688 and 2B 710, with high incidence of fungus Fusarium verticillioides and treated with mixtures of fungicides thiophanate-methyl + pyraclostrobin (50 mL a.i .100 kg-1 of seeds) and carbendazim + thiram + micronutrients (100 mL a.i .100 kg-1 of seeds) during six months storage. Performance assessments of seeds were carried out at 0, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 180 days storage. The incidence of F. verticillioides, as well as physiological quality, germination, vigor, stand of plants, emergence speed index, and dry matter weight were assessed. It has been verified that seed treatment with fungicide mixtures was efficient for ensuring seed physiological quality of both genotypes and to reduce incidence of F. verticillioides on treated seeds. By contrast, analysis between treatments with fungicides, within each period assessed and each treatment as compared to control along storage period was verified clear benefits on emergence of seeds after treatment with fungicides