Vol. 11, Issue 11 (2022)

An investigation was undertaken during kharif 2021 at the Central Research Station and Department of Seed Science and Technology, OUAT, Bhubaneswar to study the impact of foliar application of a dormancy inducing chemical like maleic hydrazide (MH) on the biochemical traits of groundnut seeds. The experimental material consisted of three groundnut varieties namely, TG 37 A, TG 38 B and Devi and six treatments namely, MH @ 0, 250, 500, 750, 1000 and 1250 ppm applied as foliar spray at 70 and 90 DAS. The biochemical seed vigour parameters like dehydrogenase activity, FFA content and electrical conductivity were studied. The dehydrogenase activity (OD values) of seed at monthly intervals during storage exhibited non-significant variations among the varieties, treatments (except after 3 months) and also the interaction effects during all period of storage. There was gradual decrease in OD values with advancement of storage upto three months. The initial mean OD values of the varieties (0.816) after one month was decreased to 0.763 and then decreased to 0.587 and 0.369 after two and three months of storage, respectively. Among the treatments, the highest OD values was observed in T5 and lowest in T₀ (control) throughout the entire storage period. The free fatty acid (FFA values) of seed at monthly intervals during storage exhibited significant variations among the varieties and treatments during one and two months of storage while there was presence of significant variations among the interaction effects only after three months of storage. There was gradual increase in FFA values with advancement of storage up-to three months. Similarly, the initial mean electrical conductivity (EC) values of varieties were 0.084 which gradually increased to 0.144 after three months of storage. Among the treatments, the lowest EC and FFA values was observed in T₅ and highest in T₀ (control) throughout the entire storage period. The EC of seed leachate exhibited significant variations among the varieties during all period of storage and among the treatments at two and three months of storage. Among the varieties, Devi exhibited relatively lower FFA & EC values and higher OD values during the entire period of storage followed by TG 38 B and TG 37 A. There exists a close relationship between induced dormancy on various seed quality parameters (biochemical traits) which thereby plays a vital role in enhancing storability of groundnut seeds.