Department of Agriculture, Agriculture and Forestry University, Chitwan, Nepal.
Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Sociology, Agriculture and Forestry University, Chitwan, Nepal.
PLoS One. 2021 Aug 5;16(8):e0255258. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255258. eCollection 2021.
The yield and quality of an annual crop are highly dependent on uniform and rapid germination of the seeds. In case of bitter gourd (Momordica charantia), the germination and field emergence is always a problem as seeds have thick and hard seed coat. Pre-sowing hydro-priming is one of the most suitable, affordable, easily available, and cost-effective techniques in breaking down seed dormancy to enhance germination. Hence, a field experiment was conducted in Surkhet district of Nepal 2020 to assess the effect of different hydro-priming duration on germination and seedling growth of bitter gourd. The experiment was laid out in single factor Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with four replications and seven treatments including different hydro-priming durations (T0: control, T1: 6 hours, T2: 12 hours, T3: 18 hours, T4: 24 hours, T5: 36 hours and T6: 48 hours) of bitter gourd seeds of Palee variety, the most popular variety among the farmers. The highest water uptake and germination were found in 48 hours of seed hydro-primed seeds whereas the lowest water uptake and germination were observed on non-primed seeds. Similarly, the tallest seedling, most vigorous seedling in terms of seedling vigour index I and II was observed in 48 hours hydro-primed seeds followed by 36 hours of seed hydro-priming and shortest seedling and the least vigorous seedling in control. Thus 48 hours of seed hydro-priming was found to be effective for increasing germination and seedling growth in bitter gourd, which needs to be further investigated under large, open-field conditions with different varieties.
一年生作物的产量和质量高度依赖于种子的均匀快速发芽。对于苦瓜（Momordica charantia）来说，由于种子的种皮较厚且坚硬，发芽和田间出苗一直是个问题。播前浸种是打破种子休眠、促进发芽的最适宜、经济实惠、易于获得且具有成本效益的技术之一。因此，2020 年在尼泊尔苏尔凯特地区进行了一项田间试验，以评估不同浸种时间对苦瓜发芽和幼苗生长的影响。该试验采用单因素随机完全区组设计（RCBD），设 4 个重复和 7 个处理，包括不同的浸种时间（T0：对照，T1：6 小时，T2：12 小时，T3：18 小时，T4：24 小时，T5：36 小时，T6：48 小时），苦瓜种子选用 Palee 品种，这是农民最受欢迎的品种。结果发现，浸种 48 小时的种子吸水率和发芽率最高，而未浸种的种子吸水率和发芽率最低。同样，浸种 48 小时的种子幼苗最高，幼苗活力指数 I 和 II 最高，其次是浸种 36 小时的种子，而对照种子幼苗最矮，活力最低。因此，浸种 48 小时可有效提高苦瓜的发芽率和幼苗生长，这需要在不同品种的大田条件下进一步研究。
