Influence of Polymer Coated Bioagents on Seed Yield and Quality Attributes in Pigeonpea Genotypes

Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] is a vital legume crop in the semiarid tropics of Asia, Eastern Africa and the Caribbean Islands. The availability of healthy, pathogen free seeds plays a pivotal role in achieving an optimal plant population and subsequently influencing yield parameters in pigeonpea.

The laboratory and field experiments were arranged using a completely randomized design and a randomized block design with a factorial concept, involving eight genotypes and three bioagents.

Seed mycoflora was 8.2% higher with the standard blotter method (32.65%) than with the water agar method (30.17%). Aspergillus niger (9.77%) and A. flavus (9.97%) were the predominant seed mycoflora species identified across various pigeonpea genotypes. Among the pigeonpea genotypes, BSMR-736 showed the highest performance, with plant height (12.4%), number of primary branches (14.7%), secondary branches (21.6%), number of pods per plant (40.6%), seeds per pod (15.9%), seed yield per plant (22.7%) and seed yield per hectare (30.9%) compared to the mean of the tested genotypes. TS-3R took the minimum days to reach 50% flowering (99.70) and maturity (149.63). The combination of polymer @ 3 ml kg^-1 + Trichoderma harzianum and Pseudomonas fluorescens each @ 5 g kg^-1 demonstrated positive effects on various growth and yield traits, pods per plant (47.0%), seed yield per plant (14.3%) and seed yield per hectare (6.7%) over the treated mean. The application of bioagents, especially the combination of polymer with seed treatment using T. harzianum and P. fluorescens, exhibited the potential to enhance overall plant performance.