Effects of pre-sowing seed treatments on germination and seedling growth performance of Ocimum basilicum L.

Abstract

Ocimum basilicum is an important medicinal plant throughout the world. The present investigation focuses on influence of various inorganic seed pre-treatment on germination and seedling vigour in Basil. The mature seeds of Ocimum basilicum were collected from Dr. Y.S. Parmar, UHF, Nauni district- Solan (H.P.) India. The seeds were subjected to 4 pretreatments, which included soaking in normal and boiling water and soaking in GA3 in different concentration and duration. The results of the study indicated that the highest germination percentage (24.27) was observed in T1 (Soaking of seeds in 20 ppm GA3 for 45 min.) and lowest (0.40) in T3 (Soaking of seeds in hot water for 10-15 min.). Boiling water treatments decreased the germination percentage of the seeds than control. With regards to speed of germination, soaking the seeds in 10 ppm GA3 for 45 min. (T2) recorded the highest speed of germination (10.40) followed by seeds soaked in 20 ppm GA3 (T1). In the present investigation, pre-treatment with GA3 emerged as the best pre-treatment as proven by earlier workers, but the second best treatment was soaking in normal water, especially 24 hours duration. This is a low cost pre-treatment compared to GA3 and hence can be widely used by farmers in nurseries. However, the definite pattern of influence of pre-treatments visible in seedling traits observed after four weeks.