Vol. 12, Issue 3 (2023)

Author(s):
B Sivakumar, PS Devanand, R Vijayan, K Hemaprabha, P Radha, M Tilak, S Utharasu, M Kiruba, Dr. K Nelson Navamani Raj, K Sivakumar and M Mathivanan

Abstract:
In the current research work, the influence of size polymorphism on seed and seedling quality characteristics of Dendrocalamus strictus were analyzed. The results revealed that Dendrocalamus strictus seeds (caryopsis) were separated based on size using physiological parameters (Length and Width) as big, medium and small seeds. Medium sized seeds performed well with all the characters viz., seed recovery, seed to hull ratio, 100 seed weight, seed length, seed breadth and also in seedling quality like shoot length, root length dry matter production and vigour index were observed. The various classes of seed revealed that the seedling vigour parameters were superior with medium sized seeds over the small seeds. The results might be due to differential rate of filling that was observed with bamboo seeds. The association between the seedling growth and seed size is normally explained as positive due to the quantum of accumulated reserve and their higher order chemical composition. The study revealed that on size grading of Dendrocalamus strictus seeds, selection of medium sized seed should be practiced for improving the quality characteristics of seed both at laboratory and at nursery. The study also quantified that selection of medium sized seed improved the germination of the seed by 30 percent at laboratory and by 57 percent at nursery when compare to small seeds.