Revival of germination and vigour of aged seeds of Withania somnifera by seed invigoration treatments

Present study indicates the revival of germination potential and vigour of aged, non germinable seeds of Withania somnifera; by various pre sowing seed invigoration treatments. Among wide range of treatments tested, GA3 200 ppm for 48 h induced highest germination (70.50 %), lowest time for onset of germination (11.75 days) and mean germination time (12.64 days), followed by BA 50 ppm (65.50 %), KNO3 200 ppm (62.50 %) and PEG 6000 at −0.5 MPa (60.75 %). Apart from these chemicals, hydropriming of seeds with water for 24 and 48 h was also found beneficial to induce up to 40.0 % germination, which is simple and economically viable treatment. Above seed treatments also resulted in better seedling quality in terms of seedling vigour indices I and II. This can pave the way to revive the germination potential and vigour of aged non germinable seeds, enabling the farmers to use the leftover seeds.