INFLUENCE OF INSECT ATTRACTANTS, MICRONUTRIENTS AND GROWTH REGULATORS ON SEED QUALITY PARAMETERS IN ALFALFA (MEDICAGO SATIVA L.)
K. SREEDHARA1, A. KRISHNA2 AND S. HARISH 3*
1Department of Seed Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, UAS, Dharwad, Karnataka
2Department of Seed Science and Technology, College of Forestry, UAS, Sirsi, Karnataka
3Department of Seed Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, UAS, Dharwad, Karnataka
* (E-mail : kumarsky999@gmail.com)
(Received: 1 July, 2013, Accepted: 23 July, 2013)
SUMMARY
A laboratory experiment was carried out at Seed Quality and Research Laboratory, National Seed Unit, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad during the Rabi-Summer 2010-11. The experiment consisted of 8 treatment combinations involving two insect attractants, A1– Jaggery solution @ 2% and A2– Commercial attractant (Bee-Q @ 0.175%), two micronutrients M1– Boron @ 0.8% and M2– Molybdenum @ 0.05% and two growth regulators. G1– Gibberilic Acid (GA3) @ 50 ppm and G2– Naphthalene Acetic Acid (NAA) @ 50 ppm. Among the insect attractants sprayed, Bee-Q recorded significantly higher test weight (2.62 g), germination percentage (91.16) and vigour index (1373) sprayed at the time of 50 per cent flowering stage and also showed lower electrical conductivity (0.264 dSm-1). Among the growth regulators sprayed, GA3 (Gibberilic Acid) @ 50 ppm sprayed showed significantly higher test weight (2.60), germination percentage (92.66) and vigour index (1426) and also recorded lower EC (0.260 dSm-1). Application of Molybdenum @ 0.05 per cent as foliar spray recorded significantly higher test weight (2.50 g), germination percentage (90.58) and vigour index (1332) and also recorded lower EC (0.278 dSm-1). The interaction effects between insect attractants, micronutrients and growth regulators were found significant. The treatment combination of A1M1G2 found significantly superior for seed quality parameters over all other treatment combinations.
Key words: Lucerne, Insect attractants, boron, molybdenum, gibberlic acid, naphthalene and seed quality