Seed Germination and Seedling Vigour Improvement by Halophytic Seed Treatment in Black gram (Vigna mungo L.)

Background: Chenopodium plant is halophytic in nature in which the plant absorbs salt from soil and secrets the salts in aerial parts particularly in leaves and also has lot of macro and micro nutrients. This salt secretion by salt glands helps to survive the plants in saline conditions. The morpho-physiological characters act as barrier against mechanical damages, insects, excessive light and loss of water. Therefore, an experiment was conducted to enhance the seed quality traits viz., germination, speed of germination and seedling vigour in black gram by treating with the salt glands of Chenopodium. Methods: The experiment was conducted in the Department of Seed Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during 2019-2020. The black gram variety VBN 8 seeds were treated with different concentrations of Chenopodium leaf extract and salt bladders. Then, the seeds were assessed for its quality traits. Result: The experimental results showed that seeds soaked in Chenopodium leaf extract along with salt bladders @ 1.0% or salt bladders alone @ 0.2% for 3 h at 1:0.3 (w/v) ratio have recorded highest germination (97% and 96%) and seedling vigour (2280 and 2102). Nevertheless, analytical results indicated that the Chenopodium leaf extract and its salt bladders contain more amount of minerals particularly phosphorous (0.50%, 0.15%), potassium (0.83%, 1.11%), nitrogen (2.52%, 2.21%), calcium (16.00 ppm, 22.40 ppm), magnesium (190.56 ppm, 193.40 ppm), sodium (4.14 mg 100 g-1, 6.57 mg 100 g-1), chloride (0.14 mol. L-1, 0.17 mol. L-1), respectively, which favored the enhancement of seed qualities in black gram.