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SEED HARDENING

By, VENKATESH R

201400400305/02/2023

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VENKATESH R

2 YEAR

ANBIL DHARMALINGAM AGRICULTURAL

COLLEGE AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE

TRICHY-9

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INDIA – AN OVERVIEW

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CONTRIBUTION

67% of total land area

56% of total cropped

area

52% of population

48% of food crop area

77 % of pulses

66% of oilseeds

45% of cotton

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LOW PRODUCTIVITY

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why?

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Poor quality seed

Soil moisture deficit

Low and erratic rainfall

Improper crop management

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SEED QUALITY ENHANCEMENT

Second green revolution will be based on quality seed

Dr.M.S.Swaminathan

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McDonald (2000) , “Any post harvest treatment

that improves germination or seedling

emergence or facilitate the development of

more number of normal, rapid, uniform and

healthy seedlings in the field conditions.”

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SEED HARDENING

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Henckel (1964) - “simple method to alter

the physiological and biochemical nature

of the seed in order to induce the factors

responsible for drought resistance”.

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It can be done with water / dilute chemical

solutions / growth regulating compounds or

using commonly available natural tonics like

coconut water or milk.

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CHEMICALS ROLE

Potassium nitrate Osmo-regulation, cell wall and

membrane permeability

Potassium chloride Activation of enzyme process

Potassium di hydrogen

phosphate

Constituents of phospholipids,

nucleotides and sugar phosphate

Calcium chloride Participate in starch metabolism

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BOTANICALS ROLE

Pongam Bio enhancement due to presence of plant

growth hormones

Prosopis Stimulatory effects caused by plant growth

hormones

Moringa Stimulatory effects caused by plant growth

hormones

Pulse sprout extract Induction of sugars and vitamins that

promotes growth

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MICROBIAL ENHANCERS ROLE

Rhizobium Induction of root nodulation

Azatobacter Source of PGR

Trichoderma viridi Fungal antagonist

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PHYSIOLOGICAL REORGANIZATIONS

Change in hydrophilic property of the

protoplasmic colloids namely the viscosity and

elasticity.

Increase in osmotic potential.

Increase in water holding capacity of plants.

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METABOLIC CHANGES  

Increased respiration.

Leaves of hardened plants have more starch.

Increased activity of the mitochondria.

Higher rate of photosynthesis because of increase

in the bound water.

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MORPHOLOGICAL CHANGES

More xeromorphic morphology.

Epidermal and stomata cells are smaller.

Foliage area is increased.

Faster recovery from atmospheric drought.

More absorbing surface in the root system,

as well as more number of primary roots.

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how ?

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DRY SEED

SOAKING IN WATER

IMBITION

PERMITS INITIAL GERMINATION PROCESS

DEHYDRATION

PREVENT RADICLE EMERGENCE

SHADE DRY

STOPS GERMINATION PROCESS

HARDENED SEED

SOWING IN DRY LAND

GERMINATION STARTS FROM WHERE IT STOPPED

RAPID ESTABLISHMENT,GROWTH AND YIELD

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Hardening techniques for various

crops

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Crop Chemical concentration Soaking duration

(hrs.)

Seed solution

ratio

Maize,varagu,tenai,samai KH2PO4 2% 8 1:0.6

Pearl millet KCl 2% 10 1:0.6

Sorghum KH2PO4 2% 16 1:0.6

Ragi NaCl 0.2% 6 1:0.7Cotton KCl 2% 16 1:0.5

Sunflower KCl 2% 12 1:0.6

Red gram ZnSO4 100 ppm 3 1:0.3

Black gram ZnSO4 100 ppm 3 1:0:3

Ground nut CaCl 0.5 % 4 1:0.3Paddy KCl 1% 16 1:0.6

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DICUSSIONS ON RESEARCH

PAPERS

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Effect of seed hardening in Bt. cotton

Treatment Germination Chlorophyll content mg\

g

No of bolls\plant

Yield kg\ha

CaCl21% 89.7 2.52 31 2518

CaCl2 2% 93.0 3.04 33 2629

CCC 100PPM

91.3 2.62 31 2557

CCC 150PPM

88.7 2.46 29 2492

WATER 84.7 2.15 26 2338

CONTROL 82.7 11.98 25 2276

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Effect of seed hardening in micro nutrients of sunflower (Muthuvel et al.,1983)

Treatment Seed yield kg\ha

Oil yield kg\ha

Seed yield kg\ha

Oil yield kg\ha

Water 1054 446 1252 552

2% ZnSO4 1195 488 1531 673

1% MnSO4 1160 482 1314 597

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Seed hardening using botanical leaf in green gram

Treatment Plant height

Days to 50% flowering

Pod length No of seed\pod

Yield\ha

Control 37.00 40 5.20 7 616.30

Prosopis 1%

45.73 37 6.52 10 758.03

Pungam 1%

44.70 37 6.35 9 727.73

Neem 1% 39.83 38 5.52 9 680.30

Aduthodai ilai 1%

40.60 36 5.64 9 686.83

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Seed hardening on finger millet ( Palanisamy and Punithavathi)

Treatment Germination %

Root length cm

Shoot length cm

Control 82 7.4 5.6

Water 87 7.3 5.8

KCl 1% 86 8.2 6.2

KCl + pungam leaf extract

93 9.5 8.3

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Effect of seed hardening on wheat ( Shivamurthy and Patil,2009)

Treatment Plant height cm

Straw yield kg\ha

Protein content %

Total chlorophyll mg\g

Net return Rs.\ha

CaCl͙2 72.94 3261 12.21 2.53 9039

Cow urine 74.12 3388 12.17 2.43 9471

water 68.60 3063 11.89 2.22 7927

control 66.90 2893 11.71 2.15 6924

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SUMMARY

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Seed hardening is physiological

preconditioning of the seed by

hydration to with stand drought under

rain fed condition.

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DRY SEED

Soaking in water/dilute solutions of chemicals

and growth regulators for 1-12hrs at 15-25°c

SHADE DRY (1-24HRS)

Sun drying (1-2 days) to bring back to its

original water content

HARDENED SEED

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BENEFITS

Rapid and uniform germination.

Rapid growth rate of seedlings.

Recover much more quickly from wilting.

Seed withstand higher temperature for prolonged

period.

Compete more efficiently with weed.

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LIMITATIONS

Time

Concentration

Type

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Thank you