STUDIES ON SEED VIABILITY AND VIGOUR OF FODDER SORGHUM [SORGHUM BICOLOR (L.) MOENCH] SEEDS STORED UNDER AMBIENT CONDITIONS
SHER SINGH VERMA*, U. VERMA1 AND S. K. PAHUJA2
Department of Seed Science and Technology
CCS Haryana Agricultural University,
Hiasr-125 004 (Haryana), India
*(e-mail : vermas21@hotmail.com)
(Received : 17 June 2014; Accepted : 7 August 2014)
SUMMARY
Six varieties of fodder sorghum viz., SSG-59-3, HC-308, HJ-513, HC-171, HC-136 and HJ-541were collected and stored under ambient conditions for 15 months. Initially, all the varieties were subjected to the different seed viability and vigour parameters and the observations were recorded on standard germination (%), seedling length (cm), seedling dry weight (mg), seedling vigour index-I & II, electrical conductivity (μS/cm/seed), accelerated ageing test (%) and field emergence (%) after six months of storage. The results showed that all the varieties recorded germination percentage above the Indian Minimum Seed Certification Standard (IMSCS) and ranged from 75.67 to 79.78 per cent after six months of storage. Further seeds of all the varieties were stored under ambient conditions and the observations were recorded at the interval of three months. After nine months of storage, the standard germination and seedling vigour index ranged from 74.60 to 77.33 per cent and 2113.09 to 2685.88, respectively. The EC increased with the passage of time and it ranged from 0.433 to 0.893. The results revealed that germination (%) and seed vigour index decreased drastically in all the varieties after 12 months of storage. The germination ranged from 38.00 to 58.00 per cent after 12 months of storage. The results showed that germination and vigour index of all the varieties decreased as the age of the seed increased. It was concluded that the sorghum seeds maintained their viability and vigour up to nine months of storage under ambient conditions and there was a sharp decline in the quality of sorghum seed after 12 months of storage. Hence, the sorghum seed could be stored for nine months under ambient conditions.
Key words: Fodder sorghum, standard germination, seed viability and vigour, electrical conductivity,
accelerated ageing test, field emergence