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Effect of seed hardening on establishment, growth and productivity of semi-dry rice

Studies involving laboratory and field experiments were conducted during kharif 2000 at the College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara to investigate the effect of seed hardening treatments on imparting moisture stress tolerance in semi-dry rice and its subsequent effect on germination, establishment,...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Mohanasarida K
Otros Autores: Jose Mathew (Guide)
Formato: Ph.D Thesis
Lenguaje:Undetermined
Publicado: Vellanikkara Department of Agronomy, College of Horticulture 2001
Descripción
Sumario:Studies involving laboratory and field experiments were conducted during kharif 2000 at the College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara to investigate the effect of seed hardening treatments on imparting moisture stress tolerance in semi-dry rice and its subsequent effect on germination, establishment, seedling vigour, growth, yield attributes and yield of the crop. The treatments, thirteen in number, consisted of hardening the seeds with aqueous solutions/slurries or combination of both, of different materials such as salts, plant protection chemicals, botanicals, organic manures, biofertilizers etc. The effect of the treatments was more conspicuous in the laboratory study, showing significant variation in respect of most of the parameters studied. Hardening with imidacloprid (0.05%), Azospirillum (2.0%) and leaf extract of Ungu (l.0%) generally recorded the best results in respect of germination percentage and seedling parameters. In the field ,study hardening with imidacloprid (0.05%) and Azospirillum (2.0%) were found to be consistently superior in hastening germination, maintaining adequate seedling population, reducing seedling mortality and producing healthy seedlings. Growth components and root characters showed significant improvement due to seed hardening, with imidacloprid and Azosprillum recording the best results. The yield increase due to seed hardening, over control, ranged from 0.6 to 2.1 t ha". Imidaclopridand Azosprillum continued to record superior performance in respect of yield and yield attributes, also. KCl, KH2P04 and Ungu recorded significantly higher grain yield, over control, but was inferior to imidacloprid. The NPK uptake by the crop was significantly influenced by seed hardening treatments at almost all the growth stages, with imidacloprid and Azosprillum recording highest values in most of the cases. The study clearly revealed the effectiveness of seed hardening in realizing high yields in rainfed semi-dry rice through amelioration of moisture stress during the early growth stages.