Karnataka J. Agric. Sci.

, 24 (4) : (606-607) 2011

Effect of different organics on germination and growth of mango stones

Mango (Mangifera indica L.), the king of tropical fruits occupies an important place among the fruit crops grown in India. Mango is highly cross-pollinated crop, as a result there is enormous variation in the seedlings raised from the fruits of single tree. Rootstocks are always seedling origin irrespective of zygotic/ nucellar nature. In semi-arid regions the mango stones are available during the drier parts of the year (April- June) because of which the germination percentage and vigor is very low. Synchronization and rapid seed emergence are the benefits of bioformulations or organics on germination and seedling growth. The significant enhancement of germination was noticed in different pre-soaking treatments by Padma and Narayana Reddy (1998) and Venkat Rao, (2002) in mango. Higher germination percentage of mango stones is the main criterion and strong base for successful grafts. The present investigation was conducted to study the germination and growth parameters by pre-soaking treatments with different organics. The present experiment was carried out during 2009 and 2010 at the Department of Fruit Science, Kittur Rani Channamma College of Horticulture, Arabhavi. A completely randomized design was adopted with three replications. The experiment included nine treatments viz., T1 - Control (water soaking), T2 - Beejamruth 3%, T3 - Jeevamruth 3% , T4 - Panchagavya 3%, T5 - Amrit pani 3% , T6 - Vermiwash 1: 3 , T7 - Plant extract - 1 (Custard apple leaf extract - 5%), T8 - Plant extract - 2 (Basil leaf extract- 5%), and T9 - Plant extract - 3 (Neem seed kernel extract-5%). The stones were soaked in these organics for 24 hr. Monoembryonic variety of Neelam mango stones obtained from single lot were used for the experiment. The stones were washed thoroughly and dipped in water and the floating stones were discarded and only those which settled in the bottom were selected and surface dried. The stones were sown in polythene bags after soaking as per the treatments. Panchagavya and Amrit pani was prepared as per the procedure given by Pathak and Ram (2004). Germination percentage and germination vigour index (GVI) were computed using the formulae: Number of stones germinated Germination percentage = x 100 Number of stones sown x1 x2 x3 xn GVI = + + + + d1 d2 d3 dn Where x1, x2, x3,............, xn were the number of stones germinated and d1, d2, d3 dn days taken for germination, respectively. Regular plant protection measures were taken as and when required. The observations were recorded daily for germination and monthly for growth parameters. Out of nine treatments 52.00 per cent germination was observed in control whereas panchagavya three per cent increased the germination up to 70.83 per cent. Initiation of germination with the organics treatments was also earlier compared to control. Organics enhanced the germination compared to control. The germination vigor index ranged from 1.13 to 1.74. (Table 1). The significant enhancement of germination was also noticed in different pre-soaking treatments by Padma and Narayana Reddy (1998), Shalini et al. (1999), Venkat Rao, (2002) in mango and Reddy and Khan, (2001) in khirni. The stones pre-soaked with beejamruth recorded significantly higher germination vigor index (1.74), which was at on par with panchagavya and custard apple leaf extract, basil leaf extract (1.61) and Vermiwash (1.55), as compared to control (1.13). This could be due the presence of beneficial microbial biomass and nutrient status in beejamruth as reported by Sreenivasa et al. (2009) in soyabean. The panchagavya, is a blend of five products, obtained from cow which produces certain plant growth stimulants, viz., hormones, and enzymes having enormous increase in beneficial micro-organisms (Natarajan, 2002). The organics had beneficial effect on mango rootstocks. These effects are evident from increased vegetative parameters like, rootstock height, rootstock diameter and number of leaves compared to control (Table 2). Panchagavya three per cent exhibited maximum rootstock height at 30 (17.03 cm), 60 (23.37 cm) and at 90 (27.20 cm) DAS (days after sowing), rootstock diameter at 30 (5.43 mm), 60 (5.95 mm) and 90 DAS (6.40 mm) and number of leaves at 30 (7.03), 60 (10.83) and 90 DAS (14.37) compared to control. (Table 2). The increase in seedling height and girth by application of panchagavya and amrit pani was also reported

Table 1. Germination of mango stones as influenced by pre-soaking treatments with different organics Treatments T1- Control T2- Beejamruth (3%) T3- Jeevamruth (3%) T4- Panchagavya (3%) T5- Amrit pani (3%) T6- Vermiwash 1:3 T7- Custard apple leaf extract (5%) T8- Basil leaf extract (5%) T9- Neem seed kernel extract (5%) S.Em C.D at 5% 14.67 12.00 11.67 10.67 13.67 15.67 11.00 11.67 12.33 0.82 2.39 Number of days taken for germination Initiation 50 per cent 23.67 22.33 23.33 24.67 25.00 23.67 20.67 23.00 20.33 0.99 2.87 606 Completion 37.33 38.67 42.00 42.67 40.67 41.33 41.67 40.00 36.67 0.89 2.58 Germination (%) 52.00 62.50 60.83 70.83 60.80 6333 68.33 65.83 59.16 1.50 4.36 1.13 1.74 1.40 1.70 1.48 1.55 1.70 1.61 1.47 0.07 0.20 index (GVI)

Karnataka J. Agric. Sci.,24 (4) : 2011

Table 2. Response of mango stones to different organics on rootstock height, stock diameter and number of leaves Treatments T1- Control T2- Beejamruth (3%) T3- Jeevamruth (3%) T4- Panchagavya (3%) T5- Amrit pani (3%) T6- Vermiwash 1:3 T7- Custard apple leaf extract (5%) T8- Basil leaf extract (5%) T9- Neem seed kernel extract (5%) S.Em C.D at 5% Rootstock height (cm) 30 DAS 14.63 15.93 15.17 17.03 16.20 16.10 16.23 16.47 15.32 0.46 1.33 60 DAS 17.40 18.64 18.57 23.37 21.83 21.23 20.77 21.43 19.13 1.17 3.38 90 DAS 19.87 24.40 24.13 27.20 25.03 24.27 23.90 25.33 24.23 1.10 3.20 Rootstock diameter (mm) 30 DAS 4.32 4.98 5.04 5.43 5.27 4.71 5.10 5.15 5.08 0.19 0.55 60 DAS 4.95 5.22 5.42 5.95 5.48 5.26 5.40 5.59 5.41 0.17 0.49 90 DAS 5.38 5.73 5.78 6.40 6.17 5.88 5.90 5.96 5.76 0.17 0.50 Number of leaves/plant 30 DAS 5.27 6.70 6.57 7.03 6.37 6.06 6.40 6.23 6.10 0.31 0.90 60 DAS 90 DAS 6.90 8.00 8.60 10.83 9.47 7.87 8.17 8.70 8.07 0.65 1.90 9.47 11.10 12.30 14.37 13.77 11.90 11.83 11.97 11.13 0.87 2.53

by earlier workers, Bassanagowda (2005) and Yellesh et al. (2008) in mango, and Duragannavar (2005) in papaya. The increase in Department of Fruit Science K. R. C. College of Horticulture Arabhavi-591310, Karnataka, India Email: swamykumar2@rediffmail.com

growth parameters in the present investigations is largely due to the release of growth regulators. PRAKASH. P. DAWALE G. S. K. SWAMY V. C. KANAMADI PRASAD KUMAR N. THAMMAIAH T. SHANTAPPA R. C. JAGADEESHA

(Received: September, 2010)

References Basanagowda, 2005, Synergetic effect of AM fungi in combination with bioformulations on germination, graft-take growth and yield in mango. M.Sc. (Hort.) Thesis, Univ. Agric. Sci., Dharwad (India). Duragannavar, M. P., 2005, Effect of bioformulations on growth and yield of papaya cv. Red Lady. M.Sc. (Hort.) Thesis, Univ. Agric. Sci., Dharwad (India). Natarajan, K., 2002, Panchagavya A Manual. Other India Press Mapusa. Goa, pp. 33. Padma, M. and Narayan Reddy, Y., 1998, Effect of pre-sowing treatment of stones and kernels on mango (Mangifera indica L.) germination. J. Res., 26 (2):17-21. Pathak, R. K. and Ram, R. A., 2004, Manual on Vedic Krishi, Central Inst. Subtropical Hort., Ramenkhera, Lucknow, pp. 1-38. Reddy, Y. T. N and Khan, M. M., 2001, Effect of osmopriming on germination, seedling growth and vigor of khirni (Mimusza hexandra) seeds. Seed Res., 29 (1) 24-27. Shalini, P., Bagde. T. R., and Bharati, B., 1999, Growth of mango (Mangifera indica L.) Seedlings as influenced by stone treatment. J. Soils Crops, 9 (2): 227-230. Sreenivasa, M. N., Naik, N. and Bhat, S. N., 2009, Beejamrutha; A source for beneficial bacteria. Karnataka J. Agric. Sci., 22(5): 1038-1040. Venkat Rao, 2002, Studies on nursery and production techniques in polyembroynic rootstocks of mango, M.Sc. (Hort.) Thesis, Univ. Agric. Sci., Bangalore (India). Yellesh, H. S., Swamy, G. S. K., Kanamadi, V. C., Prasad kumar and Sowmaya, B.N., 2008, Effect of organics and chemicals on germination, growth and graft- take in mango. Asian J. Hort., 3(2): 336-339.

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