Influence of Seed Priming Techniques on Field Performance and Yield Attributes of Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia L.)
Madhusudhan Reddy Kunreddy *
Department of Horticulture (Vegetable and Floriculture), Bihar Agricultural College, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur – 813210, Bihar, India.
Randhir Kumar
Department of Horticulture (Vegetable and Floriculture), Bihar Agricultural College, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur – 813210, Bihar, India.
Ajay Bhardwaj
Department of Horticulture (Vegetable and Floriculture), Bihar Agricultural College, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur – 813210, Bihar, India.
A. Kumar
Department of Seed Science and Technology, Bihar Agricultural College, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur – 813210, Bihar, India.
Tirthartha Chattopadhay
Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, Bihar Agricultural College, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur – 813210, Bihar, India.
Subhash Verma
Department of Horticulture (Vegetable and Floriculture), Bihar Agricultural College, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur – 813210, Bihar, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The present investigation aimed to evaluate the influence of various seed priming techniques on the field performance of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) cv. Kahalgaon Local. Due to its hard seed coat, bitter gourd seeds exhibit slow and uneven germination, which negatively affects field establishment. To address this, multiple seed priming techniques; hydro-priming with distilled water, osmo-priming with PEG, halo-priming with KNO₃, and hormonal priming using GA₃ at different concentrations (500 ppm and 1000 ppm) were applied for 12 and 18 hours, with unprimed seeds serving as the control. Among all treatments, hormonal priming with GA₃ at 500 ppm for 18 hours significantly improved the speed of emergence, field emergence index, relative growth rate, seedling vigor, and average fruit yield per plant. The findings suggest that pre-sowing seed treatment with GA₃ @ 500 ppm for 18 hours enhances field performance and yield potential of bitter gourd by promoting early and vigorous seedling growth.
Keywords: Seed priming, bitter gourd, field performance, GA₃, hydropriming, osmopriming