Impact of Various Sources of Seed Priming on Growth, Yield and Quality of Spinach Local (Spinacia oleracea) in-vitro and in-vivo Condition

Abstract

Seed germination, following seedling growth are basic but crucial steps in a plant life cycle which includes proper seed germination which is a basic pre-requisite for a better crop growth and yield. The experiment was conducted in Vegetable Science Department under the Defence Institute of Bio-Energy and Research (DIBER), (DRDO), Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand in the year 2020-2021 to standardize the best treatment of seed priming specific to Spinach (Spinacia oleracea). An investigation was conducted both in a laboratory and on the field with the same treatment that was: (T1) Distilled water, (T2) 1%NaCl, (T3) 1%H2O2, (T4) 1%Na2CO3, (T5) Tap water, (T6) 1%DAP, (T7) Control. Seeds were soaked for 16 hrs and then dried to original moisture content for 2 days. It was found that all the priming treatments showed a significant difference with the control and the highest germination %(lab) with 71% was observed in seeds treated with DAP (T6) and the highest crop yield (field) were observed for 1% Na2CO3. Na2CO3 showed the best result in the field as well as in lab conditions based on different quality parameters followed by DAP. This study showed that seed priming treatments help in the enhancement of seed quality parameters, proved cost-effective and the most economical method. The experiment helps to improve the seed quality using different priming treatments which are cost-effective, economic, environment friendly and one of the quickest methods used for seed enhancement.