Vol. 11, Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
Preethi M, Vanitha C, Sundareswaran S and Anand T

Abstract:
A study was undertaken in the Department of Seed Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to evaluate the performance of microbial seed coating under water stress condition in blackgram. Seeds were coated with bioinoculants viz., Rhizobium japanicum (10g/kg of seeds), Phosphobacteria (10g/kg of seeds), Trichoderma harzianum (4g/kg of seeds), Bacillus subtillis (10g/kg of seeds) individually and in consortium and the seeds were shade dried. The performance of coated seeds in terms of germination and other seedling quality parameters were evaluated under water stress condition at -4, -5 and -6 bar created by PEG 6000 solution in the laboratory. The results revealed that Rhizobium japanicum, Phosphobacteria, Trichoderma harzianum and Bacillus subtillis could able to tolerate water stress conditions of -4, -5, and -6 bars and increased the germination percentage, seedling length, dry matter production and vigour index. Therefore, microbial seed coating could be a successful presowing seed treatment to alleviate water stress in blackgram.