INTRODUCTION Groundnut is cultivated in India as a rainfed crop and post-harvest losses in groundnut range from 10 to 25% of the production in Asia (Azeemoddin, 1993). Fungi such as Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, Alternaria dianthicola, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium oxysporum, Macrophomina phaseolina, Rhizopus stolonifer cause rotting, seed necrosis, loss in germination and toxification of oil seeds. Aspergillus is a common mold in tropical and sub tropical countries and causes aflatoxin contamination in groundnut and cereals (Chavan and Kakde, 2008). Seed germination decreased from 90% to 35 and 30% in groundnut, due to A. niger and A. flavus, respectively (Kakde and Chavan, 2010). A. flavus is the most important storage fungus that causes seed rot and leads to aflatoxin contamination in groundnut seeds. Seed treatment is cost effective against seed borne diseases resulting in healthy and vigorous plant stand and reduces subsequent bulk consumption of chemicals in the field as foliar sprays. Significant reduction of A. flavus populations and kernel infection was obtained in both greenhouse and field experiments (Waliyar et al., 2008). Therefore, efficacy of different fungicides and biocontrol agents on seedling quality characters was investigated. MATERIALS AND METHODS The present investigation was carried out in the laboratory of Plant Pathology, Regional Agricultural Research Station, Lam and Department of Seed Science and Technology, Advanced Post Graduate Centre, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh during 2018-2019. Seeds of 13 groundnut cultivars viz., Abhaya, Amaravati, Chitravati, Dharani, Haritandhra, ICGV 00 350, Kadiri 6, Kadiri 9, Narayani TAG 24, TCGS 1073, TCGS 1616 and TCGS 1694 were surface sterilized, soaked in conidial suspension of A. flavus (106 conidia ml-1) for 20 min and dried at room temperature overnight. Seeds soaked in sterile distilled water served as control. The inoculated seed was treated with various fungicides and biocontrol agents viz., mancozeb @ 3g kg-1, carbendazim @ 2 g kg-1, tebuconazole @ 1 g kg-1, carboxin+thiram @ 2 g kg-1; bio-control agents Trichoderma viride @ 10 g kg-1 and Pseudomonas fluorescens @ 10 g kg-1. The treated and control (uninoculated) seeds were kept for germination using rolled paper towel method in four replications of hundred seeds and the following observations were recorded. Germination (%): On 10th day (final count), all the normal seedlings were counted. The germination percentage from each sample in each replication was computed as per the formula: Germination (%) = (Number of normal seedlings)/(Total number of seed sown) ×100 Seedling Length (cm): Ten normal seedlings were taken from each sample at random on the 10th day and length was measured from the tip of the primary leaf to the tip of the primary root with a scale. Seedling Dry Weight (g): Ten normal seedlings collected as above were dried in a hot air oven at 75±1°C for 48 hours and mean seedling dry weight was recorded. Seedling Vigour Index: Seedling vigour index I was computed using the formula of Abdul- Baki and Anderson (1973). Seedling vigour index I = Germination (%) × Mean seedling length (cm) Seedling vigour index II was computed as per the formula of Reddy and Khan (2001): Seedling vigour index II = Germination (%) × Seedling dry weight (g) The data recorded were analyzed statistically by adopting Completely Randomized Design (CRD) as described by Panse and Sukhatma (1985). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Significant increase in germination (%), seedling length, seedling vigour indices, seedling dry weight and reduced infection (%) due to seed treatment over the inoculated control was observed irrespective of the genotype. The germination in uninoculated control (91.31%) decreased to 70.65% due to inoculation with A. flavus (Table 1, Fig. 1). Tebuconazole @ 1 g kg-1 seed recorded the highest germination (91.00%) followed by carbendazim @ 2 g/kg seed (90.35%), carboxin+thiram @ 2 g kg-1 seed (89.63%) and mancozeb @ 3 g kg-1 seed (88.92%). The average seedling length in A. flavus inoculated treatment was 16.04 cm as against 20.81 cm in uninoculated control (Table 2, Fig. 2). Carbendazim @ 2 g kg-1 seed recorded the highest seedling length (18.93 cm) followed by carboxin+thiram @ 2 g kg-1 seed (18.55 cm) and mancozeb @ 3 g/kg seed (18.00 cm). T. viride @ 10 g/kg seed (17.07 cm) and P. fluorescens @ 10 g kg-1 seed (16.89 cm) were superior to inoculated control (16.04 cm). Tebuconazole @ 1 g kg-1 seed recorded the lowest seedling length of 14.25 cm i.e., less than inoculated control (16.05). The seedling vigour index I of 1907 in uninoculated control was reduced to 1145 due to inoculation with A. flavus (Table 3, Fig. 3). Carbendazim @ 2 g kg-1 seed recorded the highest seedling vigour index (1716) followed by carboxin+thiram @ 2 g kg-1 seed (1669) and mancozeb @ 3 g/kg seed (1607). Seed treatment with tebuconazole @ 1 g kg-1 seed recorded the lowest (1300). The seedling dry weight of 0.24 g in uninoculated control was reduced to 0.19 g due to A. flavus (Table 4, Fig. 2). Carbendazim @ 2 g kg-1 seed recorded the highest seedling dry weight (0.23 g) followed by carboxin+thiram @ 2 g kg-1 seed (0.22 g) and mancozeb @ 3 g kg-1 seed (0.22 g) whereas tebuconazole @ 1 g kg-1 seed recorded the lowest (0.19 g). The seedling vigour index II of uninoculated control was 21.55 whereas A. flavus inoculated seed recorded 13.45 (Table 5, Fig. 3). Carbendazim @ 2 g kg-1 seed recorded the highest seedling vigour index II (20.60) followed by carboxin+thiram @ 2 g kg-1 seed (19.83) and mancozeb @ 3 g kg-1 seed (19.22) and tebuconazole @ 1 g kg-1 seed recorded the lowest (16.98). Adithya et al. (2017) obtained higher germination of A. flavus inoculated seed with Trichoderma spp and P. fluorescens followed by carbendazim and mancozeb. Increase in seedling length vigour index I and dry weight of inoculated seeds of groundnut due to seed treatment with carbendazim, mancozeb and carboxin+thiram was observed earlier (Adithya et al., 2017) and Ahmad and Zaidi (2018). The growth retarding effect of triazoles is attributed to the inhibition of gibberillic acid biosynthesis that helps in shoot elongation. The per cent infection of 8.69 in uninoculated control increased to 41.23 due to inoculation with A. flavus (Table 6, Fig. 4). Tebuconazole @ 1 g kg-1 seed recorded the lowest infection (3.88%) followed by carbendazim @ 2 g/kg seed (6.54%), carboxin+thiram @ 2 g kg-1 seed (6.96%) and mancozeb @ 3 g kg-1 seed (7.46%). Reduction in per cent infection with carbendazim, tebuconazole, carboxin+thiram was observed by Islam et al. (2015) and Kumari et al. (2016). Seed treatment with propiconazole and carbendazim (Rohtas et al., 2016) and carbendazim (Dolas et al., 2018) also recorded decrease in per cent disease incidence.