Effect of accelerated ageing on seed storage potential of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merill]

Freshly harvested seeds of soybean cultivars, JS-335 and DS228 were stored in gunny bags and polylined gunny bags as part of storage study. Simultaneously seeds were exposed to accelerated ageing test at 41 ±2°C temperature and 98 ±2% RH to study viability and vigour. The observations viz., germination percentage, root and shoot length of seedling, vigour index I and II, dry matter content of seedlings, moisture content, electrical conductivity and seed mycoflora were recorded at 24 hrs interval upto 168 hrs in accelerated ageing. At 24 hrs of accelerated ageing, germination percentage enhanced over the control and the quality deterioration of seeds was very fast after 96 hrs of ageing. The seed quality of DS-228 deteriorated earlier than JS-335 due to ageing treatments. Germination percent and moisture content had positive correlation with the viability during test and storage, whereas the electrical conductivity and number of seeds affected by fungus were negatively associated with seed viability. Thus, the present study indicates that the four days accelerated aged seeds predict the storability of 10 months gunny bag and 12 months polylined gunny bag stored seeds of soybean, JS-335 and DS-228.