Influence of Seed Pelleting on Physiological Seed Quality Improvement in Bael (Aegle marmelos (L.) Corr.) the Endangered Medicinal Tree

ABSTRACT

Aim: Bael is an endangered medicinal tree with multipurpose utility propagated through seeds. Hence attempts were to improve the vigour of the seed through seed pelleting with ecofriently organic products. Study Design: A Factorial completely randomized design (FCRD) for laboratory experiments and RBD for nursery studies with five replication with five replications. Place and Duration of Study The laboratory and nursery experiment was conducted at the Department of Seed Science and Technology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore during 2012-13. Methodology: The seeds were pelleted with botanical leaf powders viz., karisilanganni (Eclipta prostrate), avaram (Cassia auriculata), arappu (Albizia amara), neem (Azadirachta indica), biofertilizers viz., azophos, phosphobacteria and biocontrol agents viz., Trichoderma viride and Pseudomonas fluorescens along with unpelleted seeds. Results: The results showed that among the treatments arappu pelleting enhanced the germination (76%) and seedling quality characters viz., root length (13.0 cm), shoot length (9.9 cm), dry matter production (318 mg) and vigour index (1740) compared to control followed by neem and phosphobacteria pelleting. The treatment scored as best also performed better at polypot nursery. Conclusion: Our data show that arappu pelleting enhanced seed quality compared to control