Effect of pre-sowing seed treatments on germination and initial growth attributes of Mimusops elengi Linn.
Abstract
Mimusops elengi L. (Bakul) commonly known as spanish cherry is an evergreen tree native to South and Southeast Asia. This species known for its importance as the tree provides fruit and fodder, planted as ornamental and used intraditional medicine practices. Many parts of the species have high medicinal properties and fruits are edible in nature andalso seeds are valuable source for extraction of non essential oils. It is mainly propagated through seeds but due to its hardseed coat possess inherent dormancy and germination process is medium. Keeping these facts into consideration thepresent investigation was carried at College of Forestry, Sirsi to evaluate the effect of pre-sowing seed treatments ongermination and initial growth parameters of Mimusops elengi. The experiment was designed with ten different pre-sowingtreatments such as water soaking, hot water soaking, seed mud ball, cow dung slurry, KNO3 and GA3 at different concentrations. Among these, the seeds treated with 100 ppm GA3 (T9) showed the highest per cent germination (58.89%)with higher rate of germination (10.88), mean daily germination (0.99), peak value (1.11) and germination value (1.10). Thelowest per cent germination (24.45%) with low rate of germination (3.85), mean daily germination (0.41), peak value (0.49)and germination value (0.21) was recorded in the seeds treated with mud ball (T5). Initial growth parameters variedsignificantly among different treatments; seeds treated with 100 ppm GA3 (T9) produced vigorous seedlings with maximumplant height (6.21 cm), collar diameter (1.46 mm) and leaves (2.33) followed by seeds treated with 200 ppm GA3 (T10). Hence, GA3 is an effective pre-sowing treatment for removal of seed dormancy and for the production of vigorous and goodquality seedlings in Mimusops elengi. These treatments are crucial for optimizing nursery practices and also improving thesuccess rate of seedling establishment.
