ARETH KIBARAZA, AXAY BHUKER,* AND VINEETA PANDEY
Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI), Tanzania
Department of Seed Science & Technology
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar-125004 (Haryana), India
GLA University, Mathura, Chaumuhan- 281406 (Uttar Pradesh), India
*(e-mail : bhuker.axay@gmail.com)
(Received : 06 August 2021; Accepted : 22 September 2021)
SUMMARY
The study was conducted to assess the effect of priming on seed quality and storability of five maize hybrids viz., PMH-1, IIMRNH 2015-3, IIMRNH 2015-4, P3396 and Dekalb 9144 during 2018-19. The seeds were primed in tap water, KH2PO4 (2.0%), KNO3 (1.0%) and GA3 (50 ppm) for 17 hours at room temperature and then dried to original moisture content for 24 hours at 40°C temperature. The primed seed packed in two containers-polythene bags (700 gauge) and cloth bags were stored under ambient conditions and primed seeds were evaluated for various seed quality parameters viz., germination (%), seedling length, seedling dry weight and vigour indices at 3 months intervals. The results revealed that all the seed priming treatments (17 h priming by complete soaking) showed negative effect on seed quality parameters and unprimed seeds showed superiority by registering maximum germination (92.5%), Seedling length (30.9cm), Seedling dry weight (59.6g), vigour index-I (2866) and vigour index-II (5557) in polythene bags after nine months of storage. However, among the priming treatments, maximum germination (77.6%), vigour index-I (2237) and vigour index-II (4011) was recorded in seeds primed with KNO3 @1.0 % while maximum seedling length (28.3cm) and seedling dry weight (51.0g) was observed in seeds primed with KH2PO4 @2.0%. Among the hybrids, maximum germination (88.9%), seedling length (30.3cm), seedlings dry weight (53.4g), vigour index–I (2693), vigour index-II (4764) were recorded in hybrid IIMRNH-2015-4 after nine month of storage which was at par with hybrid IIMRNH 2015-3 in almost all the seed quality parameters. In polythene bags, the germination was reduced from 97.6% to 92.5% while reduction in germination in cloth bags was 97.6 to 84.5% at the end of storage period (nine months). It is concluded from the study that priming of seeds is affected by temperature, priming duration, priming method, volume of priming agents etc, so it must be standardized, otherwise it may adversely affect the seed quality. Hybrid, IIMRNH-2015-4 was found more vigorous which can be used in further breeding programmes. For maintenance of seed quality in maize, the seed should be stored at optimum moisture level in vapour proof containers i.e. Polythene bags (>700 gauge).
Key words:Zea mays, priming, seed quality, hybrids, germination and storage