Effect of Seed Imbibition on Germination Behaviour in Brinjal and Vegetable Pea

Germination involves 3 major phases viz., hydration or imbibition wherein seeds take up sufficient amount of water before vigorous metabolism of germination could occur. Water uptake through permeable seed coats and initiation of various physiological and biochemical reactions associated with germination are more crucial for uniform and rapid seedling emergence. Several studies have been conducted to understand germination requirements to develop germination models, which usually find a good correlation between soil moisture and germination. The actual differences in time to germination or emergence, however, vary little over a large range in matric potential or hydraulic conductivity. After studying soil textures, soil water potentials, bulk density, and soil contact area, Rogers and Dubetz (1980) concluded that vapor transport might be a more important factor in the seed germination than previously thought. During the germination phase, growth and uniform seedling emergence may be affected when fields are starved or saturated with water due to poor irrigation and drainage facilities. Since, the availability of literature supporting the hypothesis on critical effect of water on seed germination is scanty, the present study was undertaken to elucidate the amount of water and time required for imbibition of brinjal and pea seeds. A laboratory study was conducted to determine the effects of available water in the germination medium on germination potential. For the purpose, fresh seeds of brinjal cv. Punjab sadabahar and peas cv. AP-3 were soaked in water for 1 (D 1 ), 4 (D 2 ), 7 (D 3 ), 18 (D 4 ) and 24 (D 5 ) hr. The seeds were soaked in Water with half (V 1/2 ), equal (V 1 ), double (V 2 ) and thrice (V 3 ) the volume of seeds for various durations as mentioned earlier. After soaking, seeds were subjected to standard germination tests to assess germination (%) and seed vigour (time taken for 50% germination). Four replications of 50 seeds each were utilized for germination tests at 25 o C (ISTA, 1999). Data were taken everyday to count the number of seedlings emerged till the last count for deducing seed vigour. Data were analyzed statistically and the treatments were grouped further by DMR test as per Gomez and