Effect of Integrated Nutrient Management on Seed Vigour Potential of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) during Ambient Storage

The experiment was conducted at Department of Seed Science & Technology CCS, Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar, Haryana from 2013-15 and comprised of seventeen treatment combinations of manures (viz., FYM and Vermicompost), bio-fertilizers (viz., Rhizobium & PSB) and fertilizers. The freshly harvested fenugreek seeds of all the seventeen treatment plot combinations were stored in plastic containers under ambient conditions up to a period of eighteen months. Seed quality was assessed at a regular interval of six months. A significant decline in seed quality was observed in all the nutrient combinations as the period of ageing increased. It was observed that the treatment combination of Rhizobium and PSB along with 75% Recommended Dose of Nitrogen (RDN) recorded significantly higher germination % (87.33%), seedling length (24.77 cm), dry weight (7.5 mg), vigour index-I (2163) and vigour index-II (657) followed by PSB with 100% RDN and Rhizobium with 100% RDN after eighteen months of ambient storage as compared to control. The electrical conductivity (333 mu S cm(-1)g(-1)) was also recorded minimum in the treatment Rhizobium and PSB along with 75% RDN followed by PSB with 100% RDN and Rhizobium with 100% RDN after the period of ambient storage while the maximum was recorded in control. The study highlighted that the slightly reduced dose of inorganic nitrogen was best when applied in combination with bio-fertilizer (Rhizobium+PSB) for maximizing the storage potential of fenugreek seed as compared to the rest of treatments.