Physiological and sanitary performance of soybean seeds during storage after phosphine fumigation

Abstract: To maintain the physical, physiological and sanitary qualities of soybean seeds during storage, efficient control of pests must be considered. Fumigation is a technique used to eliminate pests that infest stored seeds, but there is no information on possible toxic effects on the seed and the microorganisms in the seeds fumigated several times during storage. An experiment was conducted to ascertain its effect on germination, viability, and vigor (tetrazolium, accelerated aging, and seedling length tests) and on the microorganisms associated with the soybean seeds. The study was conducted on soybean seeds which were exposed to three phosphine fumigations over the period of 210 days of storage in a completely randomized statistical design. The treatments were three concentrations of phosphine (PH3.m-3) at 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 g.m-3 and the control without application of phosphine, applied three times on the same group of the seeds throughout the storage period. The fumigation chambers were made of plastic sheet impermeable to phosphine gas. Seed fumigation did not modify the physiological performance of the soybean seeds. It also did not affect the viability of the fungi and bacteria in the seeds.