Comparative Analysis of Seed Germination and Seedling Growth in Some Varieties of Brassica juncea (L.)

Germination is an important phenomenon in plant life cycle. It is an irreversible process. Germination studies give an idea about seed's performance. This study can be used to enhance the harvest of plants. Brasica juncea is an important oilseed crop. It is used as oil source and has medicinal values. In the present investigation, different germination parameters such as percentage germination (GP), speed of germination (SOG), coefficient of germination (COG), germination rate (GR), mean germination time (MGT) and germination index (GI) were studied. Also, some seedling growth parameters such as shoot and root lengths (SL and RL), vigor index (VI), seed stamina index (SSI) and seedling growth (SG) were also recorded in 15 varieties of B. juncea. Results show that varieties exhibited different levels of germination percentage ranging from 43.33% to 96.66%. It was observed that SOG was maximum in varieties 12 (Navgold) and was lowest in variety 5(RGN-229). COG was maximum in variety 12(Navgold), whereas in variety 9(RH-30) it was minimum. Interestingly, the highest MGT was recorded lowest in variety 5(RH-30) and highest was observed in variety 12(Navgold). Significant differences were observed between shoot and root lengths in different varieties. The maximum root length was observed maximum in variety 6(RGN-236), while the minimum was measured in variety 12(Navgold). Variety 7 (Maya) showed the maximum shoot length whereas variety 6(RGN-236) showed minimum. The vigor index was found to be maximum in variety 8 (PCR-7) and minimum in variety 2 (RGN-48).