SEED LONGEVITY AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH AGRONOMIC TRAITS IN SOYBEAN (Glycine max L. Merrill)
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Date
2020-08-31
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CSKHPKV. Palampur
Abstract
Study on seed longevity was carried out by packing the seeds of seven soybean varieties of
Himachal Pradesh in high density polyethylene (HDPE) bags and storing them under ambient
condition (Jan 2019 to May 2020) following completely randomized design in four
replications. The experimental material was also planted in the field during kharif 2019
following RBD in three replications to evaluate the varieties for 12 agro-morphological traits
in order to establish an association of seed longevity with important agronomic traits. Data
recorded over a period of 16 months after fixed bimonthly intervals revealed that most of the
seed quality parameters viz., per cent germination, rate of germination, field emergence,
seedling length, seedling dry weight and seed vigour indices I & II gradually declined,
whereas electrical conductivity witnessed an increasing trend with the advancement of storage
period. Varieties, Palam Early Soya 1 and Him Palam Hara Soya 1 performed poorly under
storage and were classified as having short seed longevity (12 months), whereas PS 1556
exhibited seed germination above IMSCS even after 16 months of storage and was classified
as having comparatively long seed longevity. Remaining 4 varieties exhibited moderate seed
longevity (14 months). Aforesaid varieties were also characterized for DUS traits that revealed
11 out of a total of 21 descriptors to be more informative in classification and identification of
the seven varieties under study. Field evaluation and further analysis of variance revealed that
the mean sum of squares due to genotypes were significant for all the 12 agro-morphological
traits studied. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance was found for 100-seed
weight and harvest index. Variety, PS 1556 was the best performing variety for yield and
related attributes. Correlation of seed germination after 8 and 16 months intervals as well as of
seed longevity, with 12 agro-morphological traits revealed a strong and positive association of
seed longevity with number of pods per plant, seed yield per plot and seed yield per ha.
Simultaneously a very strong and negative association of seed longevity was detected with test
weight and number of branches per plant indicating thereby the possibility of designing an
ideotype of soybean through selection for more number of pods per plant, less number of
branches per plant and lesser 100-seed weight accompanied with higher seed yield. The study
presents choice of indirect selection criteria based on some easily accessible agromorphological traits for improving seed quality of soybean under storage.