Emergence and Seedling Attributes of Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek) as Influenced by Sowing Depth and Seed Size

An experiment was conducted at the Agronomy field laboratory of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from March 2007 to June 2007 to find out the influence of varying sowing depth and seed size on emergence and seedling growth of mungbean cv. BARI mung - 5. The experiment was consisted of three sowing depths (2, 4 and 6 cm) and three seed sizes; small (< 3.2 mm), medium (3.2 mm to 4 mm) and large (> 4 mm). The experiment was laid out in polybags following split-plot design using depth as the main factor and seed size as sub factor. Results showed that the percentage of emergence was significantly the highest at 2 cm depth. However, significantly the highest hypocotyle length, root, shoot and total fresh weight were found in maximum depth (6 cm). In respect of seed size, results showed that the small sized seeds had significantly the highest seedling emergence. While the larger seeds showed significantly the highest epicotyle and hypocotyle length, fresh weight of root, shoot and total seedlings. Among the interaction treatments, the highest hypocotyle length, fresh weight of root, shoot and total seedlings were found in maximum depth with larger seeds.