The innovative application of ethylicin as a seed‐fumigant in preventing and controlling cucumber seed‐borne pathogens

BACKGROUND Seed‐borne pathogens substantially reduce cucumber yield and seed quality. Seed fumigation may provide effective disinfestation while maintaining seed viability. This study evaluated ethylicin (ETH) as a fumigant for cucumber seeds and compared its performance with that of allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) and chloropicrin (CP). RESULTS ETH showed the highest overall efficacy in closed‐plate bioassays and pot experiments, with over 75% inhibition of the target pathogens, outperforming AITC and CP. ETH fumigation selectively reshaped the seed‐associated microbiota, significantly reducing pathogenic fungal and bacterial taxa, including Fusarium (69.55%), Alternaria (52.16%), and Proteobacteria. It also increased germination and emergence by 10.00–24.32%, and improved plant height (7.30–16.60%), stem thickness (2.73–5.11%), and chlorophyll content (6.77–7.80%). ETH‐treated plants produced up to seven flowers per plant, compared with three in the control and seed residues ranged from 1.19 to 7.55 mg kg −1 . CONCLUSION ETH shows strong potential as a cucumber seed‐fumigant, combining high disease suppression with improved crop establishment. These results offer a practical alternative to conventional fumigants for improving seed health and supporting sustainable cucumber production.