EFFECT OF ULTRA-DESSICATION ON SEED LONGEVITY IN PEARL MILLET
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Abstract
Seeds of the majority of crops and many other plant species show
orthodox storage characteristics i.e., they can be dried to low moisture contents
without causing decline in their viability. The longevity of such seeds increase
with decrease in seed moisture content and storage temperature (Roberts,
1973). It has been shown that at a given temperature, there is a logarithmic
relationship between the longevity of desiccation tolerant seeds and their
moisture content (Ellis and Roberts, 1980; Ellis et al., 1986). Ellis et al., (1986)
reported that the increase in seed longevity which resulted from reducing
moisture content from 5 to 2 per cent in Sesame seed was about 40 folds.
Reducing storage temperature from +200c to -200c also increased longevity
by a factor of roughly 40. Considering these results, the usefulness of ultradesiccation
in the conservation of seed viability is being studied on a number
of crops. The present study summarizes our results on pearl millet seeds.