Impact of Pre-sowing treatments on Growth, Seed Yield and Vigour of Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) in Rainfed Conditions

Abstract

Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) is an important rabi oilseed crop, and successful crop establishment under rainfed conditions depends partly on seed quality and early seedling vigour. The present investigation evaluated eight pre-sowing seed treatments for their effects on growth, yield and seed-quality parameters of mustard at the Organic Research Farm, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Bundelkhand University, Jhansi, during the rabi season of 2021–22. The experiment was conducted in a randomised block design with three replications. Among the treatments, T8, comprising Azotobacter 2% + Azospirillum 2% for 6 hours, recorded the highest values for plant height (143.50 cm), branches per plant (11.31), siliqua per plant (142.50), siliqua length (5.36 cm), seeds per siliqua (11.67), seed yield (23.10 q ha⁻¹) and 1000-seed weight (5.37 g). T8 also produced the highest germination percentage (93.50%), root length (6.53 cm), shoot length (7.56 cm) and seed vigour index (1317.41). Days to 50% flowering were not significantly influenced by the pre-sowing treatments. Several treatment means were statistically comparable for some traits; therefore, the numerical advantage of T8 should be interpreted within the conditions of this experiment. Overall, T8 showed the most favourable combined performance for the measured growth, yield and seed-quality traits under the experimental conditions.