Influence of different pre-sowing seed treatments on the germination and growth performance of Sida cordifolia Linn.

Sida cordifolia is an erect, branched, annual or rarely perennial woody, undershrub with stellately pubescent aerial parts, up to 1m high belonging to the family Malvaceae. It is locally called as Bala. It grows as a weed on roadsides and waste places in tropical and sub-tropical regions throughout India. The annual demand of S. cordifolia is 1000-2000 MT. This study was carried out to determine the effects of different pre-sowing seed treatments on the germination and growth performance of Sida cordifolia. The seeds were collected from healthy and vigorous plants growing in natural populations of Anuppur Forest division, Madhya Pradesh India. The experiments were conducted in NWFP nursery of ICFRE – TFRI, Jabalpur. The following treatments were used:T₁ (control)T₂(cold water) T₃ (hot water),T₄ (20% sulphuric acid), T₅ (conc. sulphuric acid), T₆ (mechanical scarification), T₇ (mechanical scarification + GA 100ppm), T₈ (mechanical scarification + GA 500ppm), T₉ (0.2% potassium nitrate), T₁₀ (2% thiourea), T₁₁ (30% hydrogen peroxide), T₁₂ (cow milk), T₁₃ (cow urine) and T₁₄ (kinetin 500ppm). Experiments were performed with 14 treatments and 3 replications in completely randomized design. Days to initiate germination, final germination, and germination % were determined as germination indices. Root and shoot length, vigour index, fresh and dry weight were evaluated as growth factors. The results revealed that various pre sowing seed treatments affected significantly the seed germination process. Initiation of germination was shown earlier in T₄ in 7 days where as late germination was found in T₁. The maximum germination percentage was recorded in T₄ (79.71%) which was significantly superior over other treatments whereas lowest (12%) was recorded in T₁. The highest root length, shoot length, fresh weight, dry weight, and vigour index was found in T₅. The results revealed that seeds pre-treated with T₄ showed the better germination and better-quality seedlings of S. cordifolia.