Presowing seed invigouration treatment for better crop stand establishment and seed yield in Bajra (Pennisetum typhoides) cv. CO 7

摘要

An experiment was conducted to ascertain the effect of pre-sowing seed invigouration treatment on both high and low vigour seeds of pearlmillet. The various treatments namely water hydration for 16 h and drying at room temperature below 25°C (T_1), cold hydration for 72 h at 10°C and surface drying (T_2), gibberellic acid hydration (50 ppm) for 16 h and surface drying at room temperature below 25°C (T_3), Osmo conditioning with PEG 6000 solution (-10 bars) at 15°C for 7 days (T_4), water hydration + dry dressing with thiram (0.25%) (T_5) and 2 per cent KH_2PO_4 hydration for 16 h at room temperature (T_6) were employed and tested for germination, seedling growth, crop stand establishment and seed yield. Among the seed lots tested, irrespective of the treatments, high vigour seed lot (S_1) registered higher germination per cent, seedling dry weight (mg 10 seedlings~(-10), field stand per cent and number of plants/4m row and less number of days to 50% flowering compared to low vigour seed lot (S_2). Among the treatments, the seeds invigonrated with 2% KH_2PO_4 for 16 h (T_6) improved the germination per cent and seedling dry weight followed by hydration with GA_3 at 50 ppm (T_3) for 16 h. The field stand per cent and number of plants per 4 m rowwas maximum in T_3 followed by T_6 and seed yield (kg ha~(-1)) was also maximum in T_6 followed by T_3 and T_5.