Efficacy of Ash in Post-Harvest Seed Storage of Three Species of Cucurbitaceae
Journal Title: Journal of Plant Science and Research - Year 2018, Vol 5, Issue 2
Abstract
The efficacy of ash in storing seeds of bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), snake gourd (Trichosanthes cucumerina) and pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima) was studied at three different concentrations for a period of 24 months to facilitate simple and reliable seed storage technique at the post-harvest stage. Using ash at a low concentration (5% to the seed weight) was found to be significantly less effective in storing seeds of L. siceraria, T. cucumerina compared to higher concentrations (10% and 20% to the seed weight) after 1 year of storage. In contrast, all three concentrations benefited seed storage of C. maxima for 1 year. However, germination percentage at the end of storage increased proportionately with increasing ash concentration in all the three species. The results showed that use of ash at high concentrations (10% and 20%) can uphold more than 80% of the viability of the seeds at the time of harvest. The dryness of seeds was not responsible for seed viability as all the three species stored at different concentrations for 2 years germinated only less than 10%. We found that several pests attacked seeds, but these attacks were either minimal or nil in ash treated seeds depending on the concentration during the first year. The possible mechanism of actions behind the repellent activity of ash is discussed in the context of present findings. The results show that ash can have a great potential in storing seeds of L. siceraria, T. cucumerina and C. maxima seeds for up to 12 months.
Authors and Affiliations
Jaganathan GK
Keywords
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