Effect of pelleting material on seedling emergence and growth parameters in Cenchrus species

Abstract

Seeds of Cenchrus grasses are chaffy and light in weight, so sowing of sole grass seed at proper depth and spacing is a great challenge. Seed yield of grasses are very low, while demand for seed is high for rejuvenation of grasslands. Seed pelleting could play important role in utilization of seed efficiently and in uniform establishment of grassland. Around 20 mm diameter handmade pellets of different materials viz., farm soil, clay, farm yard manure, sawdust and cocopit and their combinations were evaluated for seedling emergence, growth and wilting in Cenchrus ciliaris and C. setigerus. Effect of pelleting materials was found non-significant on seedling emergence in both species but significant difference was observed for seedling dry weight and wilting of seedlings. Lowest wilting (48.9%) was recorded in Soil+Clay+FYM in 2:1:1 ratio and highest wilting (78.1%) was observed in pellets of clay alone. Application of katira gum was not found beneficial for delaying of wilting, instead higher doses of katira gum increased the wilting proportion. C. ciliaris had better moisture stress tolerance than C. setigerus as indicated by less percentage of wilted seedlings.