Effects of gibberellic acid on seed dormancy of black gram (Vigna mungo L.)

Abstract

Black gram or Urdbean (Vigna mungo) is a widely cultivated pulse crop in India. The seeds of this crop show dormancy and are not able to germinate as and when required. Investigation of the effect of gibberellic acid (GA3) in breaking the dormancy of black gram seeds is the objective of this experiment. To break the dormancy, seeds were soaked with different concentrations of GA3 along with hydro primed seeds and control seeds for 3 h and shade dried. Evaluation of germination and seedling growth of these primed seeds under controlled environment conditions revealed that the seed treated with 350 ppm of GA3 observed in maximum physiological parameters. Hence, the treatment of seeds with 350 ppm of GA3 is an effective dormancy-breaking treatment in black gram.