Effect of seed enhancement techniques on yield and yield attributes of Lentil (Lens culinaris M.) cultivars under rainfed conditions

To evaluate the effect of seed enhancing techniques on seed yield and yield components of lentil (Lens culinaris M), a field experiment was conducted in Split Plot Design with three replications using two lentil cultivars viz., KLB-303 and K-75 placed in the main plot with fourteen different seed priming treatments in the sub-plot during the Rabi season of 2019–20 and 2020–21 at Oil Seed Farm, CSA University, Kanpur. Analysis of variance of pooled data of both the year revealed that Variety K-75 was significantly superior in terms of yield and yield components as compared to variety KLB-303. Among the various seed priming techniques, seed coating (on hydroprimed seed) with BioNPK and drought alleviating bacteria resulted in maximum yield with and yield components as compared to other treatments. Thus, from the experiment it may be concluded that seed coating (on hydroprimed seed) with drought alleviating bacteria + BioNPK can be used for higher seed production of lentil under sub-optimal condition which is simple, economically feasible and environmental friendly.