Effect of seed priming with molybdenum on performance of rainfed chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Singh Sher*, Bawa S S, Singh Satvinder, Sharma SC, Kumar Vijay Regional Research Station for Kandi Area, Punjab Agricultural University, Ballowal Saunkhri, SBS Nagar – 144 521 *Corresponding author:
Online published on 24 July, 2014. Abstract A field experiment was conducted during the Rabi seasons in 2009–10 and 2010–11 at Punjab Agricultural University Regional Research Station for Kandi Area, Ballowal Saunkhri to study the effect of seed priming with molybdenum (Mo) on chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) variety PBG 1. Four treatments comprising seed priming with 250, 500 and 750 ppm solution of molybdenum and untreated control were laid out in randomized complete block design with four replications. Plant height, number of pods/plant, test weight, seed yield, straw yield and rain water use efficiency increased with increasing levels of Mo seed priming upto 500 ppm. Dry weight of root nodules increased upto 750 ppm of Mo. All the levels of Mo were significantly superior to untreated control for most of the characters. Seed priming with 500 ppm of Mo resulted into 18.9% higher seed yield over control. Higher net returns and B:C ratio were also observed in case of 500 ppm Mo treatment. The study suggested that productivity and returns from rainfed chickpea can be improved through a simple low-cost seed priming (with 500 ppm Mo) technology. Top Keywords Chickpea, Economics, Molybdenum, Nodulation, Rain water use efficiency, Seed priming, Yield. Top |