GERMINATION, AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND YIELD OF CITRULLUS COLOCYNTHIS (L.) SCHRAD AS AFFECTED BY OSMOPRIMING AND NUTRIPRIMING
Keywords:
priming agents, melon, seed germination, agronomy, yield componentsAbstract
Melon (Citrullus colocynthis) is an economic plant known for its nutritional and medicinal purpose. However, seed dormancy and low germination rate have been identified as major drivers for it low yield production. Therefore, the study investigated the influence of osmopriming and nutripriming on seed germination, growth and yield of C. colocynthis. Seeds of C. colocynthis were soaked in priming agents NaCl and KNO3 (osmopriming) at 0.5 g/L, 2.5 g/L, and 4.5 g/L; Zn and K (nutripriming) at 0.01%, 0.05% and 0.15% for 12 hours while unprimed seeds served as the control. Percentage germination and germination index were calculated while chlorophyll content, biomass, fruit diameter and yield were obtained using standard procedures. The results showed that application of KNO3 at 4.5 g/L and Zn at 0.05% increased percentage germination by 39.1% and 41.6%, respectively compared to the control. Using NaCl at 4.5 g/L significantly increased fruit diameter and yield of C. colocynthis by 3.4% and 19.3%, respectively; the least C. colocynthis yield was obtained under KNO3 at 0.5 g/L. K at 0.01% also increased the fruit diameter and yield of C. colocynthis by 4.5% and 10.7%, respectively compared to the control. Among the nutripriming treatments, K at 0.05% and Zn at 0.01% produced the least yield, but with comparable results with the control. In conclusion, priming C. colocynthis seeds with NaCl at 4.5 g/L (osmopriming) and K at 0.01% (nutripriming) significantly increased agronomic characteristics and yield of C. colocynthis and could be recommended to agriculturists for optimum yield of C. colocynthis.
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