Plant quarantine measures for the safe global distribution of germplasm of ICRISAT mandate crops

ICRISAT safely exported 182,605 seed samples to 127 countries during 1998-2019. The maximum number of exported samples were of sorghum (51,309) followed by chickpea (48,513) and pearl millet (39,771). A total of 2749 seed samples (chickpea 1301, groundnut 300, minor millets 50, pearl millet 338, pigeonpea 395 and sorghum 365) were rejected due to presence of seed-borne pathogens of quarantine significance. Thirty-one pathogenic fungal species were detected in the blotter test and seven pathogens detected in seed washing and sedimentation test. Maximum fungal/oomycetes species were detected in sorghum seed samples (18) followed by chickpea (16), pigeonpea (15), groundnut (10), pearl millet (9) and minor millets (6). Acremonium sp., Botrytis sp., Cercospora sp., Colletotrichum sp., Exserohilum turcicum, Fusarium sp., Phoma medicaginis, Phomopsis sp., Pyricularia grisea, Sclerotium rolfsii, Peronosclerospora sp., Sporisorium sorghi, Puccinia purpurea, Moesziomyces penicillariae, Claviceps fusiformis and Sphacelotheca sp. were detected in the seed samples.