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Background: Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is one of the most important legume crops cultivated throughout the world. Cowpea is used as food, feed, forage, fodder, green manuring and vegetable. It's seed is a nutritious component in the human diet, as well as for livestock. Seed hardening and pelleting are seed enhancement techniques used to improve seed germination and seedling vigour and growth by altering the physiological state of the seed. This alteration may improve the vigor or the physiology of the seed by enhancing uniformity of germination. Seed enhancement techniques like hardening and priming include use of chemicals that trigger systemic acquired resistance or improve stress tolerance whereas the pelleting treatments improve seed handling and planting. They also enhance nutrient availability or provide inoculates by delivering materials needed during sowing, germination and seedling establishment. Hence in order to study the combined effect of seed hardening and pelleting on growth, yield and resultant seed quality of cowpea under natural saline conditions, the present study was taken up. Methods: The present field and laboratory investigations were carried out to study the effect of seed hardening, seed pelleting and their combined effect on growth, physiology, yield and resultant seed quality of cowpea under natural saline conditions. The fresh seeds of cowpea seeds cv. CO (CP) 7 were hardened with KCl @ 1%, CaCl2 @ 1% and both KCl and CaCl2 @ 1% and then the hardened seeds were further pelleted with pungam leaf powder @ 100, 150 and 200 g kg-1 of seed. Then the treated seeds were evaluated for their seed productivity and resultant seed qualities using untreated seeds as control. Observations on growth, leaf chlorophyll content, gas exchange parameters, yield and resultant seed quality parameters were recorded. Result: The experimental results revealed that among the treatments, seeds hardened with KCl @ 1% + CaCl2 @ 1% and pelleted with pungam leaf powder @ 200 g per kg recorded higher growth, yield parameters, leaf chlorophyll content, gas exchange parameters and resultant seed quality when compared to control and other treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is an important legume crop. Investigations were undertaken to study the effect of seed hardening, seed pelleting and combined effect of seed hardening with seed pelleting on germination and seedling growth of cowpea under induced saline condition viz., EC4, EC8, EC12 and EC16. Cowpea seeds were hardened with KCl @ 1%, CaCl2 @ 1% and both KCl and CaCl2 @ 1% and hardened seeds were further pelleted with pungam leaf powder @ 100, 150 and 200 g kg-1 of seed. Observations on germination % and seedling parameters were recorded. The experimental results revealed that increased salinity reduced germination and seedling growth in terms of germination %, speed of germination, root length, shoot length, dry matter production and vigour index. However, hardening and pelleting treatments significantly increased all these parameters at all the levels of salinity when compared to control. Among the treatments, seeds hardened with KCl @ 1 % + CaCl2 @ 1 % and pelleted with pungam leaf powder @ 200 g per kg recorded higher germination % and all the seedling parameters when compared to control and other treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Black gram is one of the important pulse crops of the world and India is the major producer and consumer of pulses in the world. One of the main reason for low productivity of pulses is that they are cultivated mostly in areas with low soil moisture and poor soil fertility. In order to overcome such adverse conditions, low-cost techniques like seed hardening/pelleting are preferred. Seed pelleting provides package of nutrients that influences seed or soil at the seed-soil interface. Since the cost involved is very less, an attempt has been made to study the effect of botanical seed pelleting and foliar spary on growth and yield parameters in black gram cv. CO 6. Methods: Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the cumulative effect of botanical seed pelleting with pungam leaf powder @ 150g kg-1 and foliar spray of prosopis and moringa leaf powders with different concentrations (2%, 4%, 6% and 8%) on morpho physiological, leaf chlorophyll, gas exchange and yield parameters in black gram cv. CO 6 in the study. The observations on morpho physiological, leaf chlorophyll, gas exchange and yield parameters were recorded, statistically analysed and discussed here. Result: From the results, it was found that among the treatments, seed pelleting with pungam leaf powder @ 150 g kg-1 + foliar spray of prosopis leaf powder @ 6% recorded higher morpho physiological parameters viz., plant height (48.73 cm), number of branches plant-1 (8.78), dry matter production (14.83 g plant-1), chlorophyll 'a' (1.03 mg g-1), chlorophyll 'b' (1.11 mg g-1) and total chlorophyll content (2.14 mg g-1), photosynthesis and transpiration rates (27.33 mg CO2 m-2 s-1 and 10.60 mg H2O m-2 s-1), intercellular CO2 concentration and stomatal conductance (274.30 µ mol mol-1 and 0.82 mol-2s-1). This treatment also recorded lower number of days to first flowering (23.23 days), earliness in 50 per cent flowering (30.12 days) and also recorded higher yield parameters such as lengthier pods, more number of pods plant-1, pod yield plant-1, number of seeds pod-1, seed yield plant-1, seed yield ha-1 and hundred seed weight of 5.60 cm, 26.30, 8.20 g, 7.30, 5.30 g, 795.12 kg ha-1 and 5.83 g, respectively as compared to other treatments. To conclude, seed pelleting with pungam leaf powder @ 150 g kg-1 + foliar spray of prosopis leaf powder @ 6% proved to be the best in enhancing morpho physiological, growth and yield parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cluster bean [Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub.] is an important legume crop. Investigations were undertaken to study the effect of seed pelleting with botanicals viz., Pongamia pinnata, Prosopis juliflora, Vitex nigundo and Albizia amara@ 50, 100, 150 and 200 g kg-1 of seed on germination and seedling growth of cluster bean under induced saline condition viz., EC4, EC8, EC12 and EC16. The experimental results revealed that increased salinity caused harmful effects on germination and seedling growth in terms of germination %, speed of germination, root length, shoot length, dry matter production and vigour index. However, pelleting treatments increased these parameters with more pronounced effect by Pongamia pinnata leaf powder. Higher germination, growth and vigour of seedlings were recorded with Pongamia pinnata leaf powder treatment @ 200 g per kg. The next best levels of vigour index was recorded in treatments with Pongamia pinnata leaf powder @ 150g per kg and Prosopis juliflora leaf powder @ 200g per kg only at no salinity and low levels and in high levels of salinity, Albizia amara leaf powder treatment @ 200g per kg performed as the nest best treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cluster bean is one of the major legumes cultivated in many parts of the world. However effect of organic seed pelleting in this crops needs more attention nowadays in probem soils like saline soil. Field experiments were carried out with cluster bean cv. Pusa Mausami to study the effect of organic seed pelleting on biometric, biophysical and yield parameters of clusterbean under saline condition. The seeds of cluster bean cv. Pusa Mausami were pelleted with pungam, prosopis, notchi, arappu leaf powders @ 50, 100, 150 and 200 g per kg. From the results, it was found that seed pelleting with pungam leaf powder @ 200 g per kg registered significantly higher values for biometric parameters viz., plant height, number of branches per plant, dry matter production, biophysical parameters viz., photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2 concentration and yield parameters viz., pod length, number of pods per plant, pod yield per plant, number of seeds per pod, seed yield per plant and hundred seed weight. From the present study, it was concluded that seed pelleting with pungamn leaf powder @ 200 g per kg can be recommended for increased growth and yield parameters in cluster bean under saline conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seed pelleting with leaf powders of two botanicals viz., pungam (Pongamia glabra) and prosopis (Prosopis juliflora) was done to study the effect of botanical seed pelleting on seedling quality, gas exchange, growth, yield and resultant seed quality parameters of black gram in the laboratory and field. From the results, it was found that, seeds pelleted with pungam leaf powder @ 150 g kg-1 recorded higher germination percentage (93.00), root length (18.35 cm), shoot length (19.34 cm), dry matter production (0.48 mg seedling-10) and vigour index (3505.10). The yield parameters such as pod length, number of pods plant-1, pod yield plant-1, number of seeds pod-1 and 100 seed weight were also found higher in pungam leaf powder pelleting treatment @ 150 g kg-1. The control recorded the least values in all these growth and yield parameters of black gram. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ninety four genotypes of black gram were evaluated under rainfed condition for their biometric characters viz., plant height, number of pods plant-1, number of seeds pod-1, 100 seed weight and seed yield plant-1 for preliminary screening to identify the best performing genotype. Based on their yield performance, eight genotypes viz., RU8-705, PALAVAYALLOCAL, T 9, PHM 8, ADT 3, CBG-09-06, VANNIYUR-LOCAL and CBG-09-13 were selected and raised in three environments. Among them, two genotypes viz., T 9 and CBG-09-13 were selected and their root parameters viz., root and shoot length, shoot length, number of roots, root diameter, fresh weight of root, fresh weight of shoot, dry weight of root, dry weight of shoot, root volume and gas exchange characters viz., net photosynthetic rate, leaf temperature, stomatal conductance and intercellular CO2 were studied to identify the best genotype among them suitable for moisture stress condition. Based on the results, it was found that CBG-09-13 performed well under moisture stress condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field experiments were conducted to screen the mungbean genotypes based on root characters and root penetration ability. Observations on root and shoot characters viz., root length, shoot length, number of roots, root diameter, fresh weight of root, fresh weight of shoot, dry weight of root, dry weight of shoot, root volume, growth and yield parameters viz., plant height, number of branches, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, 100 seed weight, seed yield per plant were recorded. Based on the root characters, the genotypes HUM 1, VMGG 67, VMGG 82, VMGG 83 and VMGG 90 were found to be promising. They also performed well in the field experiments. These genotypes were crossed with high yielding varieties like VBN 1, VBN 2, VBN 3 and KM 2 to get Ft Among the 20 crosses obtained, three crosses VMGG-83/VBN 2, VMGG-90/VBN 3 and VMGG-83/VBN 1 were found to perform well in F2 and they will be forwarded to next generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present investigations were carried out to study the influence of various seed hardening treatments on growth and yield parameters in black gram under drought condition. The black gram cv.VBN 3 was imposed with various seed hardening treatments (i.e.,) MnSO4 @ 100 ppm, ZnSO4 @ 100 ppm, Cobalt nitrate @ 1 %, Sodium molybdate @ 100 ppm, KCl @ 100 ppm, Pungam leaf extract @ 1 %, Prosopis leaf extract @ 1% and GA3 @ 40 ppm. The above treated seeds along with control were evaluated for their seed quality parameters, growth, gas exchange and yield parameters under laboratory and drought field condition. The study revealed that seeds hardened with prosopis leaf extract @1% recorded higher seed yield, yield attributing characters and many seed quality characters as compared to other treatments and control under drought condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five lines and four testers were crossed in a line x tester fashion resulting in twenty hybrids. Among the twenty hybrids, the two best hybrids viz., VRMGG 1 x VBN 1 and VRMGG Local x PMB 27 were selected and subjected to generation mean analysis. Among the characters studied, the parents VBN 1 and VRMGG 1 were found to be good general combiners for seed yield plant-1 and its all its related characters. Among the crosses, VRMMG 1 x VBN 1 and EC 30072 x VBN 1 exhibited the highest per se performance, hence they were selected for this study. The significance of 'C' & 'M', m, d, h, i and 1 components demonstrated the importance of both additive and dominance effects for traits among the crosses. However, the value of H was greater than D for grain yield plant-1, number of pods plant-1, seed protein content and leaf area index for both the crosses depicting the preponderance of dominance effects in their genetic control. Hence, the selection followed by hybridization in early generations was a suitable breeding method for progress in these traits. Conversely, greater value of D over H demonstrated additive nature of genes for number of branches plant-1, number of clusters plant-1, nitrate reductase activity, photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance which advocated the utilization of pedigree for improvement of these parameters. Inter-mating or recurrent selection would be followed for genetic enhancement of grain yield in mungbean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetically pure seeds of groundnut cv. VRI 2 were obtained from the Oilseed Research Station, Virudhachalam. The bulk seeds were graded for uniformity using 18/64" size sieve and were imposed with various physical seed enhancement techniques. The treated seeds along with control were stored in cloth bag and 700 gauge polythene bag under ambient condition of Annamalai nagar for a period of 10 months and were evaluated for seed quality characters viz., moisture content, germination per cent, oil content and electrical conductivity at bimonthly intervals. The study revealed that the seeds treated with halogen slurry treatment and stored in 700 gauge polythene bag registered low moisture content (8 %), electrical conductivity (0.529 dsm-1), high germination percentage (74 %) and oil content (43 %) when compared to control. It was also noted that they maintained the minimum seed certification standard upto 10 months of storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black gram is highly priced pulse, rich in protein (24%) and phosphoric acid. Besides being cooked for consumption with chepaties (rotis) and rice, it is also used in preparation of several South Indian dishes like idli, vada, dosa etc. In India, black gram is grown on an area of 2.07 million hectares with a production of 0.94 million tonnes. It is mainly grown in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Bihar. Seed is a biological entity. Flyash is generated during the combustion of coal in coal fired thermal power plants and paper industry. In agricultural studies, it has been reported that flyash at optimum rate can be utilized as a fertilizer. Hence, a study was formulated to elucidate information on the use of flyash seed pelleting on seed yield in blackgram. The study revealed that the flyash pelleting @ 200 g/kg-1 registered significantly higher values for plant height (cm), number of branches per plant, days to 50% flowering, number of clusters per plant, number of pods per plant, pod length, pod weight, seed weight/pod and seed yield plant-1 (g). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic divergence among thirty genotypes was estimated using Mahalanobis's D² statistic and total of six clusters were formed. Cluster II contained the highest number of thirteen genotypes followed by cluster I with eight genotypes and clusters V and VI contained one genotype each. The pattern of distribution of genotypes from different geographical locations into six clusters was random, demonstrating that geographical isolation may not be the only factor causing genetic diversity. The highest intra-cluster distance was observed for cluster V (17.30) and the lowest was observed for cluster I (9.52). While the highest inter-cluster distance was observed between cluster I and V (39.22). Cluster V recorded the highest mean for seed yield per plant, number of pods per plant, number of branches per plant, number of seeds per pod and 100 seed weight. Therefore, it was concluded that more emphasis should be given on cluster V for selecting genotypes as parents for crossing with the genotypes of cluster I which may produce new recombinants with desired traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]