Bulb orientation at sowing influences germination and yield in Onion (Allium cepa L) Swaminathan C*, Devi P Nivetha, Swaminathan V Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute (TNAU), Madurai-625 104, Tami Nadu, India *Corresponding author: Dr. C. Swaminathan, Professor, Department of Agronomy, Agricultural College and Research Institute, (TNAU), Madurai - 625 104, Tami Nadu, e-mail: brownrevolution@yahoo.com, +91 - 9443925074
Online published on 13 July, 2021. Abstract A field trail was conducted to investigate the germination of onion bulbs with three different sowing orientations and also assessed the influence on germination and related attributes. The trail was conducted in completely randomized block design comprised of three treatments. The three different sowing methods viz. i) sowing bulb with root tip downwards ii) sowing bulb with root tip upwards and iii) sowing horizontal placement were studied. The results observed that sowing the onion bulbs with root portion downwards showed maximum germination of 93 per cent. While, horizontal placement of bulbs and sowing bulbs root tip upwards recorded germinability of 87.17% and 78.78% respectively. Other germination parameters like Germination energy, germination value and emergence energy value were also high when bulbs were planted root portion down and this was on par with horizontal portion. Therefore, the study has concluded that sowing direction of plant material was positively correlated for getting better germination and yield. Top Keywords Bulb orientation, Germination indices, Germination percent, Onion bulb, Sowing. Top |