Vol. 11, Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
Shaveta Kamboj, Manjeet Kaur, Geeta Bassi and Kamaljit Sidhu

Abstract:
Maintenance of seed vigour and viability during storage is a matter of prime concern. Present research was formulated to store two different seed lots (fresh and revalidated) of pigeonpea cv. PAU 881 using four different packaging containers (cloth bag, cloth bag containing drying beads, only desiccator and desiccator containing drying beads) under two different temperature regimes i.e. ambient (~27.3 ⁰C) and cold room temperature (~15.5 ⁰C) to observe changes in seed quality. Viability of the stored seeds was tested by determining percent germination, speed of germination, emergence percent, vigour index I and vigour index II. The experiment results revealed that, the different temperature regimes showed significant effect on seed germination and other quality parameters in pigeonpea. Fresh seeds when stored under cold room temperature conditions maintained the Indian Minimum Seed Certification Standards (81.3% germination) for 12 months when packed at moisture content ~8.42% in desiccator containing drying beads with relative humidity ~55.5% whereas seed quality of revalidated lot was maintained (76% germination) for 10 months when stored under similar storage conditions. Maximum deterioration was observed in revalidated seed when stored under ambient temperature conditions in cloth bag.