Studies on duration of seed dormancy and effect of various dormancy breaking treatments on seed quality of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.)

Abstract

Dormancy is a form of developmental arrest and is a mechanism by which seeds maintain their viability in unfavourable conditions. The laboratory experiments were carried at Department of Seed Science and Technology, College of Agriculture, University of Agricultural Sciences Raichur, to know the dormancy duration and effect of dormancy breaking treatments on seed quality of spinach. The experiment was laid down in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. The first experiment was conducted to assess the duration of dormancy in spinach. The dormancy duration of 35 days was observed with 65.5 per cent of germination. The second experiment consisted of 21 dormancy breaking treatments, among them thiourea (1%) recorded significantly highest seed quality parameters viz., normal seedlings (88.25%), speed of germination (26.95), root length (7.33 cm), shoot length (8.22 cm), seedling dry weight (11.56 mg), seedling vigour index (1372) and lowest electrical conductivity (0.219 dSm-1) compared to control.