37. Effect of humic acid and seed size on germination of mango (Mangifera indica L.) seed

Abstract

Seed emergence is influenced by many environmental factors including growth media as well as seed sizes. Keeping in view the importance of growth media and seed sizes on the emergence of plant seed and growth the present experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of humic acid and seed sizes on germination of mango (Mangifera indica L.) seed in 2015 at Jabban Agriculture Extension Department Dargai Malakand. The experiment was triplicated at Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with two factors i.e. Humic acid: H₁ (0g), H₂ (3g), and H₃ (6g) and seed size: S₁ (Small)= 33.48 cm³,  S₂ (Medium)= 36.00 cm³ and S₃(Large)= 39.20 cm³). The result showed that all parameters were significantly affected by humic acid levels and seed size. Maximum germination (90 %), shoot length (28.09 cm), stem diameter (1.10cm), number of leaves plant^-1 (7.98) was recorded for seed sown at 6g humic acid, while minimum germination (66.75 %), shoot length (21.23cm) was recorded for seeds sown at 0 g humic acid. On the other hand minimum stem diameter (0.97cm) and number of leaves (6.37) plant^-1 was recorded for seed sown at 3gm humic acid. In case of seed size all parameters were significantly affected. Maximum germination (86 %), shoot length (26.69cm), stem diameter (1.10cm), number of leaves plant^-1, (7.72) were recorded for larger size seeds, while minimum germination (66.75 %), stem diameter (0.49mm) and number of leaves (6.37) plant^-1 was recorded for small size seeds. On the other hand minimum shoot length (23.07cm) was recorded for medium size seeds. In response to humic acid most of the parameters performed well at 6 g humic acid as compared to the other two levels and in case of seed size large seed was best for most of the parameters as compared to medium and small size seeds.

Keywords: Humic acid; Mangifera indica L.; Seed emergence; Seed size

http://dx.doi.org/10.19045/bspab.2018.70038