Adverse environmental conditions at planting, such as cold temperature or water limitation, can lead to a reduced level of seed germination and plant establishment for cotton. Cold atmospheric-pressure plasma (CAP) treatment of cotton seeds prior to planting may help alleviate this problem. CAP is ionised gas that has a range of biological activities due to the formation of a mix of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS), excited molecules, charged particles and UV photons. Our results show that a 27 minutes CAP treatment using air can significantly increase water absorption of the seed, and improve warm germination, metabolic chill test germination and chilling tolerance in cotton. We also observe that the beneficial effect of CAP treatment is long-lasting and stable as improved germination activity is still seen when treatment occurs 4 months before germination testing, suggesting that future large-scale industrial seed plasma treatments may still be effectively applied well (months) before the seed planting. We conclude that CAP treatment is a promising new tool for use in the cotton industry that has the potential to significantly improve plant establishment in a wider range of environmental conditions.

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Thirteen fungal species were isolated from diseased plants of Striga hermonihica (Del.) Benth in northern Ghana. The pathogenidty of 12 isolates of the fungal species iQcludSng Curvularia fallax Boed, Fusarium equheti (Corda) Sacc., Fusarium equiseti var. buUatum (Sherb.) Wollenw., F. oxysporum Schlecht, F. soiani (Mart) Sacic., Macrophomina phaseoTma (Tassi) Goidan, and Sclerotium rolfsii (Sacc.) were evaluated against 5. hermtmthica xmder controlled environmental cooditions. All isolates were pathogenic to 5. hermonthica when propagated on whe at ( Triticum aestivum. L.) grains and incorporated pre-plan ting into the soil. However, their virulence difiEered. TWo isolates off. oxysporum and one isolate of F. soiani reduced the emergence of S. hermonthica by 88%. 98%, and 76%, respectively. Sorghum {Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) yield was increased by 26% when 5. hermonthica was controHed. In contrast, in the control treatment with 5. hermcmthim no yield could be obtained. The P. oxysporum isolates were not pathogenic on sorghum. Germination tests indicated that the F. oxysporum isolates were highly pathogenic to S. hermonthka seeds. Although the F. soiani isolate reduced the emergence afS. hermonthica in the pot experiments, it did not inlluetice germination. This indicates that pathogens may attack different stages in the life cycle of S, hermontkica.

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