Effects of polymer seed coating and seed treatment on plant growth, seed yield and quality of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata)

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to study the Effects of polymer seed coating and seed treatment on plant growth, seed yield and quality of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata). Field experiment was conducted at Field Experimentation Centre, Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology & Sciences, Uttar Pradesh during kharif 2016-17. The experiment consisting of 9 treatments, 3 replications with 2 cowpea varieties (Kashi Kanchana and Kashi Unnati) were laid out in randomized block design. The results of the present investigation revealed that T7 (imidachloprid 17.8% SL @ 3ml /kg of seeds + mancozeb @ 3 g/kg of seed + PSB @ 4g/kg seeds + polymer coat @ 5ml/kg of seeds) was found to be Significantly superior in growth, seed yield and quality parameters viz., No. of primary branches, number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod, seed yield per plant and seed yield per hectare as compare to control (T0). The laboratory experiment was conducted on Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, SHUATS, to studies on seed quality parameters viz., 100 seed weight, germination percentage, root length, shoot length, seedling length, seed vigour Index-I, protein content and carbohydrate content were found to higher in seeds obtained from T7 compared to control (T0) in both the varieties of cowpea.