Legume Res., 37 (5) : 467-472, 2014 doi:10.5958/0976-0571.2014.00661.4 AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATION CENTRE www.arccjournals.com/www.legumeresearch.in ENHANCEMENT OF PLANTING VALUE AND STORAGE PERFORMANCE OF DIFFERENT CULTIVARS WITH VARIOUS GERMINABALITY OF SOYBEAN (GLYCINE MAX) SEED BY PRE TREATMENT T.N. Usha* and Malavika Dadlani Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi-110 012, India Received: 21-08-2013 Accepted: 10-01-2014 ABSTRACT Soybean (Glycine max) seeds loose viability at a rapid pace under subtropical conditions. The pretreatments viz., poykote, poykote + thiram, polykote + neem cake powder, poltkote + hitron, Royalflo, celomic fluid and vermiwash, were given to three cultivars of soybean seed with high, medium and low vigour to see the seedling performance. Performance was measured in terms of germination first and final count, seedling dry weight and field emergence. These treated seeds were stored in 700 mm gauge polythene and cloth bag and germination percentage were recorded at three months interval upto twelve months. Overall, the effect of pre-sowing treatments was most pronounced in medium vigour seed lot (Bragg). Polymer coating with fungicides viz., polykote + thiram and Royalflo were most effective in enhancing the germination, seedling growth and field emergence, in all the cultivars of soybean. Coating with polymer + thiram or with Royalflo was most effective in retaining germination during storage. Irrespective of the cultivar, germination remained above 70% in these treatments upto 9 months even in cloth bags. Key words: Presowing treatment, Seed germination, Soybean, Storage. INTRODUCTION Soybean contains about 30-40% proteins, 30-40% carbohydrates and 20% oil of which approximately 60% are polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) content, it is liable to rapid degradation making it a poor storer. Peroxidation of PUFA is considered to be one of the major causes of the rapid loss of viability (Wilson and McDonald, 1986a; Vijay and Dadlani, 2003). This loss of seed vigour and viability are more rapid in subtropical countries as compared to temperate environment, the conditions of high temperature and humidity in subtropical countries such as India make it difficult to produce quality seeds and maintain their viability during storage. In terms of planting value, poor seed vigour results in faster loss of germination during storage, poor field emergence and inadequate stand establishment. Therefore, enhancement of seed vigour is crucial to determine the planting value of the seed crop particularly in poor storer ones such as soybean. Keeping this problem in mind, an attempt was made to know the best enhancement treatment for different seed vigour lots of soybean and their effect on storability was carried out. In fact, enhancement treatments provide a powerful manipulative tool for improving performance of seed during storage and planting under field conditions (Pires et al., 2004). Although efficacy of enhancement treatments on performance of seed and storablity has been established (Chachalis and Smith, 2001, Rivas et al., 1998, Basavaraj et al., 2008), this field of seed physiology still remains relatively less explored in case of soybean. Thus, the objective of this work was to know the efficacy of enhancement treatment on different vigour lots and also to know the effect of these treatments on storability of soybean seed. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three seed lots of soybean cv. GP 2601, Bragg and PK 416, having germination per cent ranging from 84 to 50% were used for seed * Corresponding author s e-mail: drushatn@gmail.com and address:seed Science and Technology, Shimoga-577 225.
468 LEGUME RESEARCH enhancement treatments. The following seed treatments were applied for seed enhancement. Treatment TABLE 1: Details of seed coating treatments. Polykote Polykote + Thiram Polykote + Neem cake powder Polykote + Hitron Royalflo Rhizobium Celomic fluid priming* Vermiwash priming* * Standard liquids received from IVRI, Izzatnagar, U. P. Concentration 4 ml/ kg seeds 4 ml/ kg seeds + 2.5 g/ Kg seed 4 ml/ kg seeds + 5 g/ Kg seed 4 ml/ kg seeds + 5 g/ Kg seed 4 ml/ kg seeds 4g/ kg seed At 18 o C for 17 hr At 18 o C for 17 hr These enhanced soybean seeds were packed in cloth bag and 700 mm gauge polythene bag. These packed bags were stored under ambient conditions. Germination was recorded at three months interval up to twelve months. Germination was tested in three replications of 100 seeds each, following between the paper method at 25 0 C (Anonymous, 2004). First and final counts were taken on 5 th and 8 th day respectively. Germination percentage was recorded on the basis of normal seedlings only. Seedling dry weight was estimated in three replications, following the standard method (Gupta, 1993). Ten normal seedlings were picked up randomly from the germinated seeds from each replication and dried in oven at 80 0 C for overnight. It is expressed as mg/ 10 seedlings. Field emergence recorded after 15 days of sowing on the number of seedling emerged in each row. The seedling emergence was expressed as per cent. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Seeds of soybean and other pulse crops are reported to be susceptible to imbibitional injury when the seed is kept in direct contact with water (Powell et al., 1986; Ni, 2001). Hence, in soybean six of the eight pre-sowing seed enhancement treatments were not hydration-based. Coating with polymers helps in providing a sound physical protection to the fragile seed coat of soybeans (Prochaska, 2001). There was no significant difference between the control and treated seed in germination first count of high vigour soybean seed lot (GP 2601) except in celomic fluidpriming i.e., 85% (Table 2). In case of medium vigour lot (Bragg), germination per cent first count significant improvement was obtained in Royalflo, polykote + thiram treatments. In case of low vigour lot (PK 416) enhanced germination first count ranged from 49% in polykote + hitron and vermiwash to 60% in Royalflo, which were all significantly higher than control. A significant difference in the final count of germination per cent was observed in control and polykote + thiram, celomic fluid, Royalflo and polykote treated seeds in the cultivar (GP 2601) (Table 2). Final count germination per cent of high vigour seed lot ranged from 86% in vermiwash to 94% in polykote + thiram as against 84% in control. In Bragg germination per cent ranged from 76% in polykote + NCP to 85% in Royalflo as compared to 74% in control. In case of TABLE 2:Effect of seed enhancement treatments on first count and final count of soybean in different cultivars of soybean. Treatments First count (%) Final count (%) GP 2601 Bragg PK 416 Mean GP 2601 Bragg PK 416 Mean Control 80(63) 71(57) 46(43) 65(54) 84(66) 74(59) 50(50) 69(57) Polykote 81(64) 73(59) 53(46) 69(56) 89(71) 79(63) 57(49) 75(61) PK+ Thiram 82(65) 79(63) 57(49) 73(59) 94(76) 83(66) 69(56) 82(66) PK+ NCP 80(64) 65(54) 55(48) 67(55) 85(67) 76(61) 54(47) 72(58) PK+ Hitron 79(63) 74(59) 49(44) 67(56) 87(69) 79(63) 58(50) 75(60) Royalflo 81(64) 80(63) 60(51) 74(60) 90(72) 85(67) 65(54) 80(64) Rhizobium 82(65) 70(57) 54(47) 69(56) 85(67) 75(60) 56(49) 72(59) Celomic fluid 85(67) 73(59) 56(48) 71(58) 91(72) 79(63) 60(51) 77(62) Vermiwash 81(64) 65(54) 53(46) 66(55) 86(68) 80(63) 59(50) 75(61) Mean 81(64) 72(58) 54(47) 69(57) 88(70) 79(63) 59(50) 75(61) CD (P= 0.05) Treatment(T) 2.75 1.68 Lots (L) 1.59 0.97 T X L 4.76 2.92
low vigour seed lot (PK 416) germination per cent ranged from 54% in polykote + NCP to 65% in Royalflo as against 50% in control, respectively with all the treatments resulting in significant improvement. Thus, there was an enhancement of nearly 10% (high vigour seeds of GP2601), 13% (medium vigour seeds of Bragg) and 30% (low vigour seeds of PK 416) in seed germination due to such treatments. Chachalis and Smith (2001) and Pires et al., (2004) reported better performance of soybean and bean seeds in the field when coated with polymers either singly or in combination with pesticides. Thus, a number of seed coating treatments with polymers either singly (polykote), or in combination with thiram or neem cake powder or halogen based hitron, were applied to soybean seed in the present study. Coating with the water soluble liquid fungicidal formulation Royalflo and with rhizobial culture, which is a common practice in legumes, were also compared. Two novel organic boosters i.e. celomic fluid and body wash of earthworms were also included in the study. A significant difference in seedling dry weight was recorded among different treatments and seed lots (Table 3). The mean seedling dry weights were higher in medium of Bragg (26.75 mg) and low vigour seeds of PK 416 (33.50 mg) seed lots, as compared to the high vigour seeds of GP 2601 (23.50 mg) seed lot because of the higher test weights in the former varieties (i.e. medium and low vigour seed lots). Seedling dry weight in high vigour lot ranged Vol. 37, No. 5, 2014 469 from 26.90 mg in polykote + NCP to 28.15 mg in polykote + thiram. In medium vigour seed lot, seedling dry weight ranged from 32.00 mg in rhizobium treatment to 38.05 mg in Royalflo treatment. In case of low vigour seed of Bragg seedling dry weight ranged from 36.60 mg in rhizobium treatment to 46.60 mg in polykote + thiram coating. Effect of seed enhancement treatments on field emergence was significant in high vigour lot (GP 2601), except rhizobium treatment (Table 3). High vigour treated seed lots varied from 77% in celomic fluid to 86% in Royalflo as against 74% in control. In medium vigour seed lot (Bragg) all the treatments were significantly effective with field emergence ranging from 55% in polykote + NCP to 63% in polykote + thiram in comparison to 50% in control. In case of low vigour seed lot (PK 416), treatments with polykote + NCP, polykote + hitron and rhizobium significantly lowered the field emergence whereas it ranged 38% in polykote + thiram, Royalflo and celomic fluid to 40% in polykote as against 35% in control. Overall, coating the seed with polymer + thiram was most effective, followed by Royalflo coating, in enhancing the field emergence. The treated soybean seeds were divided and packed in 700 mm gauge polythene bag and in cloth bag and stored under ambient laboratory conditions for twelve months. Coating of seed with polykote + thiram and Royalflo were the most effective treatments that maintained germination above 70%, TABLE 3: Effect of seed enhancement treatments on seedling dry weight and field emergence of soybean in different cultivars of soybean. Treatments Seedling dry weight (mg) Field emergence (%) GP 2601 Bragg PK 416 Mean GP 2601 Bragg PK 416 Mean Control 23.50 26.75 33.50 27.92 74(59) 50(45) 35(36) 53(47) Polykote 27.25 34.50 43.15 34.97 83(66) 56(49) 40(39) 60(51) PK+ Thiram 28.15 37.60 46.60 37.45 84(66) 63(53) 38(38) 62(52) PK+ NCP 26.90 36.85 44.40 36.05 79(63) 55(48) 28(32) 54(47) PK+ Hitron 19.75 38.45 41.70 33.30 78(62) 56(49) 30(33) 55(48) Royalflo 24.05 38.05 42.75 34.95 86(68) 60(51) 38(38) 61(52) Rhizobium 22.20 32.00 36.60 30.23 76(61) 57(49) 30(33) 54(48) Celomic fluid 24.90 37.90 41.35 34.72 77(61) 59(50) 38(38) 58(50) Vermiwash 23.85 34.10 38.50 32.15 79(63) 57(49) 35(36) 57(49) Mean 24.51 35.13 40.95 33.53 80(63) 57(49) 35(36) 57(49) CD (P= 0.05) Treatments 2.245 2.67 Lots 1.30 1.54 T X L 3.89 4.62
470 LEGUME RESEARCH TABLE 4: Effect of soybean enhancement treatments stored in 700 gauge polythene bag on germination per cent
Vol. 37, No. 5, 2014 471 TABLE 5: Effect of soybean enhancement treatments stored in cloth bag on germination per cent.
472 LEGUME RESEARCH irrespective of different vigour lots and different kinds of storage bags upto nine months of ambient storage (Table 4 & 5). Fungicidal based polymer treatments were most effective in enhancing the initial germination and vigour of soybean, as well as its storability upto 12 months, thus corroborating earlier reports on the beneficial effects of polymers (Pires et al., 2004). As the incidence of both field and storage fungi were found significantly higher in medium and low vigour seed lots than the high vigour lot, respectively, it is inferred from the present results that seed coating with polymers, alone or in combination with fungicides, could effectively control preponderance of fungal incidence on seed. It was encouraging to note that the effect of celomic fluid treatment was also significant in all the cultivars of various vigour level. Overall, the effect of pre-sowi ng treatments was most pronounced in the cultivars Bragg, both initially and after storage. REFERENCES Anonymous (2004) International Seed Testing Rules, Seed Sci. Technol., 27: 1-333. Basavaraj, O. B., Biradar patil, N. K., Vyakarnahal, B. S., Basavaraj, N., Channappagoudar, B. B. and Ravi Hunje (2008) Effect of fungicide and polymer film coating on storability of onion seeds. Karnataka Journal of Agric. Sci., 21(2): 212-218. Chachalis, D. and Smith, M. L. (2001) Hydrophobic polymer application reduces imbibition rate and partially improves germination or emergence of soybean seedlings. Seed Sci. & Tech., 29: 91-98. Gupta, P. C. (1993) Seed vigour testing. In: Handbook of seed testing (Ed. Agrawal, P.K.) p.242-249. DAC, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, New Delhi. Ni, B. R., (2001) Alleviation of seed imbibitional chilling injury using polymer film coating. Seed treatment: challenges and opportunities Proceedings of an International Symposium, Wishaw, North Warwickshire, UK. 73-80. Pires, L. L., Bragantini, C. and Costa, J. L. (2004) Storage of dry bean seeds coated with polymers and treated with fungicides. Pesquisa Agropecuaria Brasileira. 39: 709-715. Powell, A.A., Oliveira, M.D.A. and Matthews, S. (1986) The role of imbibitions damage in determining the vigour of white and coloured seed lots of dwarf French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). J. Exp. Bot., 37: 716-722. Prochaska, S. (2001) Emergence of polymer-coated soybeans using a very early planting date. Special Circular Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. 179: 19-20. Rivas, B. A., McGee, D. C. and Burris, J. S. (1998) Treatment of maize seeds with polymers for control of Pythium sp. Fitopatologia Venezolana. 11(1): 10-15. Vijay, D. and Dadlani, M. (2003) Seed longevity and water absorption patterns in maize,soybean and safflower. Indian J. Plant Physiol. (special issue) 8: 244-248. Wilson, D. O. and McDonald, M.B. (1986a) A convenient volatile aldehyde assay for measuring seed vigour. Seed Sci. and Tech 14: 259-268.