Physical seed treatment methods for enhancing pulse seed vigour and germination - A review
2025
Sindhu Lakshmi, R | Alex Albert, V | Meenakshisundaram, P | Sujatha, K | Gunasekaran, M
Pulses is the common term that refers to the edible seeds of the legume plant. Pulses belong to the family Fabaceae and include various crops like blackgram, green gram, peas, beans and lentils etc. They are cultivated primarily for human consumption, livestock forage and silage. Pulses are of great economic and environmental importance as they contribute to the soil ecosystem by fixing nitrogen and have high fibre and protein content. Pulses are considered as an essential source of plant-based protein. The primary disadvantage of pulse crops is their decreased productivity. The low productivity of pulse crops can be attributed to several factors. Amongst them, the hard seed coat is a significant factor. Cost-effective seed invigoration treatments are recommended to overcome the above problem in commercial seed production centres. Seed invigoration techniques are becoming more popular to increase the planting value of pulse crops and boost seed vigour. In this review, various physical treatments for pulse seeds, viz., Hot water treatment, scarification, magnetictreatment, plasma treatment and irradiation treatment, are discussed for the adoption of techniques to overcome the hardness of seed coat and boost productivity in pulse crop. Amongst all the treatments, plasma treatment is considered eco-friendly and induces germination by breaking dormancy associated with the seed coat of pulse crop.
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