Abstract

EFFECT OF ADDITIVES ON THE QUALITY OF STORED TRUE SEEDS OF ONION

M. R. A. Mollah*, M. A. Ali, M. M. Rahman, Selim Ahmed4 and G. M. M. Islam

Abstract

Onion (Allium cepa L.) is an important spice crop propagated by bulbs which are produced from true seeds. True seed production of onion is a very highly technical approach. Technical information on different aspects of production of true seeds of onion is very limited in Bangladesh. Germination failure due to improper storage of true seeds of onion is one of the problems for the farmers to produce true seeds of onion. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design with four replications to select suitable additives for storage of true seeds of onion. Six treatments viz. A0= No additive, A1= Silica gel, A2= Neem leaf crush, A3= Dry ash, A4= Chalk powder and A5= Mahogani fruit crush were consisted to achieve the objective. The experiment was conducted at On-Farm Research Division, Agricultural Research Station, BARI, Bogra during 2012-2013. The results revealed that the percentage of germination, moisture content of seed and prevalence of seed borne fungi were significantly influenced by the different treatments. Results showed that among different treatments, silica gel as additive was the best combination for retaining quality of onion seeds upto 6-7 months in the storage.

Keywords: Additive, quality, storage, true seeds, onion.