Physiological and Biochemical Assesement of Chickpea and Lentil Grown in Different Agroclimatic Zones of Bihar

The present study was conducted to evaluate the seed quality of chickpea (cv. PG-186) and lentil (cv. HUL-57) seed samples collected from randomly selected districts of different agroclimatic zones of Bihar. The seed quality was assessed based on their physiological (seed moisture, seed germination, seedling length, vigour index, etc.) and biochemical enzymes (SOD, POX and CAT) parameters. Based on the physiological and biochemical evaluation, the chickpea seed sample collected from the Sheikhpura district was found significantly high quality (96.3% germination percentage) among all, while seeds collected from Begusarai (76.7%) and Darbhanga (77.7%) districts exhibited lowest germination percentage. The germination and vigour of lentil seed revealed that the sample of Patna district was having the highest germination percentage (98.7%) while seeds collected from Katihar and Rohtas district exhibited lowest germination percentage (66% and 74.3% respectively). In the case of biochemical analysis of both chickpea and lentil seed samples, higher SOD, POX and CAT activities were observed in seeds in which the highest germination percentage was recorded. On the basis of the results of chickpea and lentil seed samples, the seed lots were categorized into high, mid and low vigour. Among chickpea, the seed samples of Sheikhpura, Patna, Munger, Bhagalpur, Lakhisarai, and Jehanabad were categorized as high vigour; while seeds of Darbhanga and Begusarai district were categorized as low vigor. Similarly, in case of lentil the seed samples of Patna, Munger, Bhagalpur, Sheikhpura, Lakhisarai, and Khagaria were categorized as high vigour; while seeds of Rohtas and Kathiahr district were categorized into low vigor. This study will be helpful to the farmers and pulses growers in order to enhance the seed quality for getting higher production in respective districts.