Enhancing Maize Seed Vigour through Seed Biopriming Using Bioagents

Abstract

Maize stands as a crucial cereal crop on a global scale, encountering up to 112 diseases, with over 70 being seed-borne. Use of bioagents not only safeguards the environment but also enhances the cost-effectiveness of production initiatives and addresses concerns related to pesticide residue. Maize plants are vulnerable to a range of diseases that significantly diminish both crop yield and quality. One prominent disease is banded leaf and sheath blight, caused by the highly prevalent and destructive pathogen Rhizoctonia solani f. sp. sasakii. In present study, the seed treatments with bacterial and fungal bio- agents on maize seed (variety DOP-339). The seed quality parameters were recorded by multi-pots tray method. Seed priming with bacterial bio-agent ie. Pseudomonas sihuinsis (96 %), Bacillus aerophilus (94.67 %), Pseudomonas stutzeri (94.33 %) and Enterobacter cloacae (94 %) significantly increased seed germination over control (92.67 %). Pseudomonas sihuinsis showed the highest shoot length (11.84 cm), root length (8.78 cm) and vigour index (854.72). Similarly, seed biopriming with fungal bio-agents with Trichoderma harzianum (96.75 %) and Trichoderma afroharzianum (97.50 %) were at par with each other in seed germination over control (93.25 %). T. harzianum showed highest root length (9.02 cm), fresh weight (15.77 g) and seedling vigour index (883.81) followed by T. afroharzianum. T. afroharzianum showed highest shoot length (12.29 cm) followed by T. harzianum (11.12 cm). while both were at par with each other in dry weight. Nigrospora sphaerica 2A, N. sphaerica 7D and N. zimmermanii 8C also displayed positive effects on various parameters as compared to control.