Assessment of viability loss in stored
seeds
Seeds were collected from the Botanical
garden of Kerala Agricultural University,
Trichur, and stored in normal room
temperature. For checking the loss of
viability of seeds on storage at room
temperature, experiments on seed
germination were conducted at monthly
intervals with seeds stored for six months.
Seeds were soaked in water for 24 hrs and
then sown in pots. The germination
percentage was calculated on the fifth day
of sowing the seeds.
Enhancement of germination
potential
In order to find out the ways for
circumventing seed dormancy, the seeds
were divided into batches of 25 and each batch was subjected to various treatments.
The seeds were treated with ordinary tap
water, 100% HCl, 80% H2SO4, 0.1%
KNO3, 0.5% KNO3 and 1.0% KNO3
solutions in different containers. Each
treatment was tried in four different
temperatures such as 400C, 500C, 600C and
700C. Appropriate temperature mileu were
given to each treatment for five minutes
utilizing a hot air oven.
After the treatments the seeds were
thoroughly washed in tap water to remove
all traces of the chemicals on the seed coat.
They were then sown in polythene bags
filled with potting mixture. The bags were
irrigated at intervals with special care to
prevent water logging and maintained in
green house. Observations were recorded
regularly.