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Background: Soybean is important oil seed crop. Poor seed germination is a major constraint for increasing the productivity of soybean. Seed quality enhancement will enhance the germination. Treating the seeds with chemicals may cause harmful effects to ecosystems and also to human beings. Using botanicals for seed treatment is safe. The present study was taken with a view to assess the seed quality of soybean by using different botanicals treatments (ball milled and commercial grade) along with shaking and without shaking. Methods: Experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of seed treatment with different ball milled botanicals and commercial grade along with shaking (60 min) and without shaking of soybean seeds on quality attributes. Botanical powders of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) seed, leafs of ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), tea (Camellia sinensis) and noni (Morinda citrifolia) were ball milled for 1 h to bring into near nano size and treated with seeds @ 2 g kg-1 for 60 min. Without ball milling was served as commercial grade. Among these two methods (commercial grade and near nano size) highest values were observed in seeds treated with near nano size powder. Generally shaking of seeds with botanicals was performed better than without shaking. Result: In this experiment, botanical fenugreek seed powder perfrmed well. In interaction, soybean seeds treated with near nano size fenugreek seed powder @ 2 g kg-1 with shaking of 60 min showed highest seed quality parameters. The per cent increase over control for germination, shoot length, root length, dry matter production and vigour index were 17.8, 27.7, 43.9, 47.6 and 45.3%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Black gram is a leguminous plant species. This pulse crop has been grown on the Indian subcontinent for a long time. Black gram a drought-resistant crop that grown both in the summer and the winter, usually in rotation with rice but occasionally in mixed farming. The objective of this research was to (i) quantify the short-term effects of high minimum temperature and enriched night CO2 (HMT and enCO2) on yield contribution factors and (ii) quantify seed quality parameters employing biochemical analysis. Methods: An investigation was carried out during summer 2021 and 2022 to evaluate the effect of high minimum temperature (ambient+3°C) and enriched night CO2 (600 ppm) (HMT and enCO2) on yield and seed quality parameters of black gram (Vigna mungo) under soil plant atmospheric research (SPAR) and ambient condition at Agro Climate Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu with ten treatments which were replicated thrice. Result: Black gram yield and quality parameters were significantly (p=0.05) reduced under HMT and enCO2. Pooled data from two successive summer seasons revealed that stress from (i) 50 to 56 DAS (Days after sowing), the number of flowers dropped per plant significantly increased by 24% and pod setting percent decreased by 19.9% (ii) 43 to 49 DAS, grain yield and biomass/plant decreased by 25.4% and 16.2%, respectively. Seed quality parameters revealed that stress during 50 to 56 DAS, seed protein, total sugar content, polyphenols, calcium and iron decreased by 19.4%, 23.7%, 16.2%, 29.6% and 30.2%, respectively. The proline and phytic acid were statistically reduced by 53.9% and 59.1%, respectively stress during 50 to 56 DAS. Stress from 64 to 70 DAS, seed moisture content was significantly decreased by 32.1%. Overall, black gram yield and seed quality was negatively affected on two treatments: stress imposed from 43 to 49 DAS (T7) and stress imposed from 50 to 56 DAS (T8) (50% flowering to pod filling stage). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legumes being a major source of protein have a wide range of economic importance. But the major constraints in growing legumes are poor germination, seedling emergence, non uniform stand establishment and crop mortality leading to lower pulse productivity. Thus, pre-sowing seed treatments are critical parameters which attribute to efficient plant growth and high yield. Uniform seed germination, seedling growth and uniform establishment are the critical stages during the growth of crops. Seed priming is a very promising presowing treatment employed to improve seed germination, better crop establishment, enhance the seed quality and induces tolerance against biotic and abiotic stresses in plants thereby providing a balanced healthy diet to the citizens. Priming is a cost effective and feasible strategy involving controlled hydration of seeds followed by drying to stimulate the pre-germinative metabolic activities to occur promoting rapid germination of seedlings, break dormancy and enhance crop yield. Enzymatic, metabolic and biochemical processes of the primed seeds attributes to rapid and uniform seedling emergence. Seed priming methods comprises of conventional methods including hydro priming, osmopriming, biopriming, chemical priming and the advanced methods including nano priming and priming with physical agents. In this review paper, the underlying physiological, biochemical and molecular aspects of priming in pulses were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is an important leguminous crop utilized as vegetable and pulse, being an important source of proteins. Pea seeds harbour various mycoflora both in field and during storage, which plays important role in reducing seed viability, germination and vigour inflicting considerable losses in yield and quality. There is scarcely any recommendation available to maintain seed quality during storage of pea seeds, hence present study was carried out. Methods: Seeds of pea (cvs. Azad P. 1 and Arkel) were treated with Captan and Carbendazim 50%WP fungicides @ 2.0 g/kg seed and stored under ambient conditions. The samples were drawn at three months interval to assess the effect of storage on seed quality parameters. The vigour index I, per cent germination and speed of germination of these seed samples were determined using ISTA rules. The detection of associated mycoflora in pea (Pisum sativum L.) seed samples was carried out by standard blotter method as recommended by International Seed Testing Association. Result: Total fourteen fungal species were found associated with different pea seed samples. Out of these, maximum incidence of Alternaria alternata (21.36%) followed by Aspergillus flavus (15.53%), A. fumigatus (14.56%), A. niger (11.60%) and Rhizopus stolonifer (9.71%), were recorded on untreated seed of pea cv. Azad P. 1, after 18 months of storage. The germination, speed of germination and vigour index of stored seed reduced with increase in storage period, whereas fungal incidence increased with the increasing storage period. Among the tested cultivars, germination in pea (cv. Arkel) remained above IMSCS even after 18 months of storage under ambient storage conditions. The maximum per cent germination (99.0) was found in pea cv. Azad P. 1 seeds treated with Captan at 3 months of storage, whereas minimum per cent germination (49.5) was found in untreated seed of pea cv. Azad P. 1 after 18 months of storage. The maximum speed of germination (23.88) was found in Captan treated seed of pea cv. Arkel at 0 month of storage and minimum speed of germination (3.52) was found in untreated seed of pea cv. Azad P. 1 at 18 months of storage. The maximum vigour index I (2339) was found in pea cv. Azad P. 1 (Captan treated seed) at 3 months of storage and minimum vigour index I (431) was found in untreated seed of pea cv. Azad P. 1 after 18 months of storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chickpea is the largest produced food legume in South Asia. It is mainly grown in dry or rainfed area, where patchy plant stand often results due to delayed and non-uniform emergence. Moreover, genotypes vary for seed germination and seedling vigour. Therefore, the study was undertaken to find most appropriate seed treatment for enhancement of planting value of desi and kabuli type chickpeas. Methods: Study was conducted at ICAR-IARI, New Delhi with fresh, 2 and 4 years stored seed lots of desi (Pusa 2028) and kabuli (Pusa 1108) varieties. The lots were compared with untreated (control) for quality and vigour parameters after giving seed enhancement treatments (SET); osmopriming, halopriming, solid matrix priming (SMP), thiram and neem khali. Result: Investigations revealed that SMP and thiram seed treatments significantly enhanced germination and field performance of fresh as well as aged seeds in these varieties. Effectiveness of treatments was found more pronounced in kabuli than desi type and thus confirmed the usefulness of SETs for poor vigour seeds. Results also showed that seed quality and vigour of both the types were significantly affected with time in storage. However, desi variety maintained satisfactory germination and field performance up to 2 years under ambient conditions of storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experiment was conducted to study the effect of presowing seed treatment, sowing windows and seasons on seed yield and quality of greengram by sowing the treated seeds on two dates each in summer and kharif. The treatments viz., 8 hours of water soaking; priming with 100 ppm MnSO4, 1% neem leaf extract, 5 ppm GA3, 1% KCl; coating with 10 ml linseed oil, 50 gm rhizobium, 4 g Trichoderma per kg seed; combination of neem leaf extract priming and rhizobium coating, combination of linseed oil and rhizobium coating. Seed quality and yield was highly influenced by seed treatments, dates and seasons; treatment and seasonal effects being greater than sowing dates. GA3, KCl and MnSO4 primed seed found most effective for enhancing the seed quality and yield. Summer season was better than kharif season for both seed quality and yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the effect of seed inoculation treatments with biological agents on seed germination, field emergence and its effect on seed during summer season. Seeds of green gram variety Pratap (SG-1) were treated with microbial formulations of seven treatments which consisted of-Rhizobium (T1), Trichoderma harzianum (T2), Trichoderma viride (T3), Bacillus megaterium (T4), Trichoderma harzianum + Trichoderma viride + Bacillus megaterium (T5), Rhizobium + Trichoderma harzianum + Trichoderma viride + Bacillus megaterium (T6) and Control (T7). Shoot length, root length and seedling dry weight were recorded after 20 days of sowing, observations on nodulation, yield and yield contributing characters were recorded at maturity and germination characteristics of the seeds were studied in the laboratory. It was observed that seeds treated with combined inoculation of Rhizobium @ 4 g + Bacillus megaterium @ 5ml/1000 ml of water + Trichoderma harzianum @ 5ml/1000 ml of water + Trichoderma viride @ 5ml/1000 ml of water (T6) recorded significantly higher field emergence (91.25%), speed of emergence (42.14), seedling dry weight (1.67mg), shoot length (25.48 cm), seed yield (992 kg ha-1), Stover yield (1870 kg ha-1), number of pods plant-1 (37), number of seeds pod-1 (13.25), 100 seed weight (3.63g) root length (9.22 cm) and nodulation (15). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The storage experiment was carried out at Seed Quality and Research Laboratory, Seed Unit (National Seed Project), University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad from March 2017 to March 2018 to study the influence of seed treatment with botanicals and chemicals on storability of Kabuli chickpea varieties. Seed quality parameters were significantly influenced among varieties and seed treatment with botanicals and chemicals. Among the treatments, seed treatment with Sprint (Mancozeb 50% + Carbendazim 25% WS) @ 2 g per kg of seed or Vitavax power @ 3 g/kg of seed or Sweet flag rhizome @ 10 g/kg of seed maintained seed quality for more than ten months during storage. However, Sweet flag rhizome @ 10 g/kg of seed can be used as alternative to chemicals which is safe, eco-friendly and economically feasible for maintaining seed quality for organic seed growers/producers and seed companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]