EFFECT OF SEED HARDENING AND PELLETING ON SEED QUALITY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF RICE IN AEROBIC CONDITION.

The present study was conducted to identify rice varieties suitable for aerobic agriculture and to formulate the seed hardening and pelleting treatment that can be recommended for better crop growth and establishment under aerobic condition. The seeds of four rice varieties viz., ADT 43, ADT 38, ADT 36 and ADT 39 were treated with KCl, KH2PO4, Thiourea and CaCl2, @ 1.0 % and subsequently pelleted with pongam (Pongamia glabra) leaf powder @ 200g/kg, along with a control. The physiological parameters viz., leaf area, leaf photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO2 concentration, root dry weight and seed quality parameters were recorded. Among the varieties tested, ADT 43 was found more suitable for aerobic agriculture and, even though all the treatments performed better as compared to control, the seeds hardened with KCl (1%) followed by pelleting with pongam leaf powder @ 200 g kg-1 recorded higher physiological parameters and seed yield and better seed quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]