Effect of seed fortification with sprouted pulses extract on germination and seedling vigour of rice

Seed fortification is a method of seed invigoration which helps to improve the initial quality of the seeds. The effect of seed fortification with sprouted horse gram and cowpea seed extracts was studied on seed germination and seedling vigour of rice cv. ADT 47. The fortification treatments included soaking in water, sprouted horse gram and cowpea extracts with 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5% concentrations for a duration of 8 h while untreated dry seeds maintained as control. The results of the study revealed that rice seeds fortified with 3% sprouted cowpea extract performed better in terms of all the seed quality parameters viz., germination, shoot length, root length, dry matter production and was par with 3% sprouted horse gram extract.