Yield and quality of barley and silage corn exposed to natural contamination with fumonisin

The main feed materials maize (Zea mays) and barley (Hordeum vulgare) are sensitive to fumonisins, which are produced by fungi of the genus Fusarium spp. Fungi of the genus Fusarium spp. easily penetrate the seeds when the integrity of the seed coat is broken. The aim of this study was to determine to what extent the integrity of the seeds for sowing in barley and corn will naturally provoke the influence of fumonisins on the yield of the respective crops, as well as the influence of a.v. azoxystrobin on these processes. The results obtained show that barley and corn plants not treated with a.v. azoxystrobin have lower yield compared to treated plants. Barley and maize plants sprouted from healthy seeds have a significantly higher average height and yield, compared to plants sprouted from mechanically damaged seeds. The statistical analysis of the data from the yield of barley and corn for silage shows the separation of two homogeneous groups. Group A containing the two treatments with damaged seeds (treated and untreated with fungicide) and group B consisting of the two treatments with whole seeds (treated and untreated with fungicide).