Effects of gamma irradiation on long-storage seeds of Oryza sativa (cv. 2233) and their surface infecting fungal diversity

We have reported an effective 60Co gamma irradiation method for the removal and long-time prevention of contaminating fungi of Oryza sativa cv-2233, without the losses of seed viabilities. The fungal growth and their population on gamma treated seeds was found to decrease significantly (p<0.05) with the increasing irradiation dose and storage time. Immediately after irradiation, the depletion of fungal population on rice seed was noticed (>50%) at 2 kGy, whereas total inhibition was noticed at 3 kGy after 1.5 month.