Trends in Biosciences

Afield experiment was conducted at Seed Technology Research, National Seed Project, University of Agricultural Sciences Bangalore to induce dormancy in non dormant groundnut cv. KCG 2 using different dormancy inducing chemicals of various concentrations viz., maleic hydrazide @ 1250, 1500ppm, abscisic acid @ 100, 150ppm, thiourea @ 5 and 6 per cent during rainy season, 2013. A non- dormant, bunch type of groundnut variety Karnataka Chintamani Groundnut 2 (KCG 2) was utilized. Foliar sprays of dormancy inducing chemicals at different concentrations were imposed at peg formation, pod formation and pod maturation stages. Significantly higher germination of 91.67 immediately after harvest were recorded by untreated control seed lots. The treatment of 150 ppm of abscisic acid sprayed at pod maturation stage and maleic hydrazide 1500 ppm sprayed at peg formation stage showed the lowest germination percent of 24.00 and 24.67 respectively. It was found that foliar spray of abscisic acid at pod maturation stage would induce dormancy up to 16 days in non-dormant bunch type groundnut cultivar and protects the seed from in situ germination due to untimely rains at the time of harvest.