EFFECT OF SEED BIOPRIMING WITH INDIGENOUS FUNGAL ISOLATES ON GROWTH AND YIELD OF OKRA (Abelmoschus esculentus L.)
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Date
2021
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AAU, Jorhat
Abstract
A series of experiments were conducted during the year 2021 in the
Department of Crop Physiology, AAU, Jorhat to evaluate the effect of seed biopriming
by indigenous fungal isolates on germination, growth and yield of okra. Three different
fungal strains viz., Trichoderma harzianum, Metarhizium anisopliae and Verticillium
lecanii, isolated and prepared from indigenous sources were selected for the research
programme. In the first experiment, which was conducted under laboratory condition,
okra seeds were bioprimed with these fungal isolates with four different concentrations
(0.30%, 0.50%, 0.70% and 0.90%) separately. Additional two separate sets, one with
hydroprimed seeds and another with unprimed control, were also kept for comparison.
Seed germination and early seedling growth of the tested crop in terms of germination
percentage, germination index, root and shoot lengths, fresh and dry weights and vigour
index of the seedlings were found to be increased by all the priming treatments. Among
the different treatments, 0.50% T. harzianum, 0.70% M. anisopliae and 0.70% V.
lecanii exhibited better promotive results compared to the other treatments. The second
experiment, which was also a laboratory trial, was carried out to evaluate the combined
effects of the different indigenous fungal biopriming agents. Among the different
treatment combinations, T. harzianum (0.50%) + M. anisopliae (0.70%) showed the
most promotive results in respect to germination and early seedling growth of okra.
Third experiment was conducted in pots under shed-house to evaluate the combined
effect of T. harzianum, M. anisopliae and V. lecanii as biopriming agents on
morphophysiology, growth and yield of okra. For comparison other two sets were also
kept, one with hydropriming treatment, and one as unprimed control. All the recorded
growth and morphophysiological parameters such as plant height, leaf number, leaf
area, root volume, shoot and root dry weights were increased by all the treatments. Plant
water relation of the crop in terms of relative leaf water content (RLWC) was found to
be positively affected by the applied seed priming treatments. Leaf chlorophyll content
of the tested crop was also increased by the seed priming treatments. However, no such
effect was observed on the leaf proline content of the crop. Yield and all the recorded
yield attributing characters such as days to first flower initiation, fresh and dry weights
of pod, fresh and dry weights of the seeds were positively affected by the applied
treatments. All the fungal biopriming agents exhibited better results compared to the
hydropriming treatment. Among the different bioprimning treatments, T. harzianum
(0.50%) + M. anisopliae (0.70%) showed the most promotive results in respect to
growth and yield enhancement in okra.