Vol. 11, Issue 6 (2022)

Author(s):
N Pradhan, RL Moaharana, N Ranasingh, KA Biswal and SK Bordolui

Abstract:
A study was conducted with ten cowpea genotypes which were collected from farmer’s of different districts of Western Odisha. Those seeds which didn’t meet the minimum seed germination percentage as prescribed by the IMSCS were further taken for seed priming treatments to improve the quality of the cowpea seeds. The experiment was conducted in completely randomized design using 14 treatments with four replications. The treatment consists of; Control (no priming), Deionised water, KNO₃@ 0.5%, KNO₃ @ 1%, KCl @ 1%, KCl @ 2%, Trichoderma viride @10gram/ kg seed, Pseudomonas fluorescence @10gram/ kg seed, GA₃ @ 50ppm, GA₃ @ 100ppm, Ascorbic acid @ 100ppm, Ascorbic acid @ 150ppm, 10­^-2M Ammonium Molybdate, 10­^-3M Ammonium Molybdate. The cowpea seeds were soaked for 6 hours and then dried back to original moisture content. Kantamal, Boudh collected genotype performed best in terms of germination and seedling development, followed by Rupra road, Kalahandi genotype and Rairakhol, sambalpur genotype of farmer saved seed. Seed priming treatments with KCl @ 1%, KNO₃ @ 1% and Trichoderma viridae @ 10g/kg seeds were found to be superior to seed germination percentages that met the minimum seed certification standards for the cowpea seed germination as well as treatments with GA₃ @ 50ppm (hormonal priming) and ammonium molybdate @ 10-³M (nutri-priming) that also improved seed germination and seedling growth in farmer-saved cowpea seeds.