Effect of Seed Priming on Germination and Seedling Growth of Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia) at Gauradaha, Jhapa

Abstract

Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia) has a thick seed coat that often obstructs germination and seedling development. Seed priming, also called pre-soaking of seed, accelerates the germination of seed and promotes the growth of the seedling. To study the effect of seed priming treatments on germination and seedling growth of bitter gourd, an experiment was conducted at Gauradaha Agriculture Campus, Jhapa, Nepal in 2024. The experiment was carried out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) where six treatments (T1: Control, T2: Cow urine soaked for 12 hours, T3: Cow milk soaked for 6 hours, T4: Hot water at 50º C soaked for 1 hour, T5: Gibberellic acid of 500 ppm soaked for 6 hours, T6: Tap water soaked for 12 hours) were used. Pale variety of bitter gourd was sown on germinating trays using growing media of field soil, fine sand, and cocopeat in the ratio 1:1:2. The observation on germination percentage, mean germination time, seedling height, no. of true leaves, stem diameter, and root length were examined. The highest germination percentage was observed in Control (95.23%), followed by tap water (88.09%). Mean germination time was highest in hot water (7.08 days) and least in tap water (5.67 Days). The maximum height was observed in gibberellic acid (31.22Cm), followed by tap water (30.14Cm) at 15 DAS. Similarly, the number of true leaves and the number of internodes in gibberellic acid were highest among others. The diameter of the stem was almost similar in all treatments. The root length was seen to be maximum in gibberellic acid (15.56Cm), followed by tap water (12.06Cm) at 5 DAS. Thus, study showed that seeds treated with gibberellic acid were effective in seedling growth.