Seedling diseases of cotton cause serious losses to cotton producers in Mississippi each year. A Cotton Disease Council estimate shows Mississippi producers lose an average of 3 percent of their total crops to seedling diseases. The estimate does not include the cost of replanting. Seedling disease identifies a complex situation involving the interaction of several organisms and the environment. Certain fungi that cause these seedling diseases are carried either on or in the seed. Other fungi live from season to season in the soil and can attack the seed or seedling. The organisms that cause seedling disease are found in all cottonproducing areas of the United States, but populations differ from area to area. Soilborne pathogens most commonly involved in the seedling disease complex in the Southeast are Rhizoctonia, Fusarium, and Pythium.

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