Seed encapsulation and supplemental nutrition for enhancing the productivity of summer sesame [Sesamum indicum L.]

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is a vital ancient oilseed crop of India, which holds remarkable importance in the world’s oil production due to its high quality. Sesame seeds have numerous health benefits and many vital nutrients, hence known nutritional gold mine. With the multi-beneficial benefits, the demand for sesame is increasing; however, the production of sesame did not satisfy the requirement. The productivity and production of sesame are hindered by several constraints. Sesame being a short-day plant requires fairly hot weather for its optimum growth and yield [7]. In addition, there is a tremendous amount of variability in the vegetative, reproductive, ripening, and maturity phases of sesame. Hence is required adequate fertilization then and there through the soil and foliar spray in order to ensure higher crop productivity in terms of higher biomass and yield. Besides timely sowing, thinning, and weeding favoring good crop stand [6].

The tiny seeds and their germinated seedlings is often facing environmental factors such as rain that will create crusts before emergence, a sudden cold front that will reduce the growth rate before emergence, winds that will blow sand and damage or cover them, insects at the seedling stage, etc. Additional seed is the only alternative and a form of insurance for a crop stand, however obtaining even growth good crop is still questionable, and because there is no agronomic practice that can improve a poor stand other than replanting. The slow growth during the seedling stage makes the plant susceptible to various biotic and abiotic factors, which leads to an uneven plant stand low in vigor and yield potential [9]. The sesame crop is poorly adapted to abiotic constraints [2] due to the following possible reasons Seed encapsulation will be a solution for the production constraint of tiny seeds. With the adoption of proper technologies improved seed yields and oil quality can be achieved [8]. Therefore there is scope for yield improvement in sesame through crop management technologies. Hence, keeping these facts in view present investigation was carried out to study the effect of seed encapsulation and supplemental nutrition for yield maximization in summer irrigated sesame.

Materials and Methods

Description of the study area

Field experiments were conducted during two consecutive years Summer of 2019 and the Summer of 2020 at Regional Research Station, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Vridhachalam (11⁰ 30^′ N, 79⁰ 26^′ E, and 42.67 m altitude) to study the effect of seed encapsulation and supplemental nutrition for yield maximization in sesame (Summer irrigated). The soil of the experimental field was sandy loam with a pH of 6.5 and organic carbon of
0.20 %.

Experiment materials and arrangement of the experiment

The field experiment was laid out in FRBD design with three replications. The main plot consisted of two treatments viz., A₁ – Pelleted seed:  Seed pelleting with neem leaf powder @ 760 g + 120 g Azospirillum + 120 g phosphobacteria for 1 kg of seed using rice gruel as adhesive, A₂ – Non-pelleted seed. The subplot consisted of six foliar nutrition technique treatments viz., S₁ – Urea @ 1 %, S₂ – DAP @ 1 %, S₃ – 19:19:19 (NPK) @1 %, S₄ – MnSO₄ @ 0.5 %, S ₅ -MAP @ 0.5 %, S₆ – Combined nutrients spray. The foliar spray was done in the early morning using a knapsack sprayer with a spray fluid of 500 liters per hectare.

Data Collection: The number of seeds germinated was counted every day and the count of a total number of seeds germinated was recorded after 14 days and the final germination was determined [4]. The final count of the emerged seedlings was taken at the second week from the start of emergence with respect to each treatment and calculation was done in relation to the number of seeds that were put for germination and the percentage value was obtained by using the formula mentioned below.

The root and shoot length was measured at 14 days after sowing and the vigor index was calculated using the formula given below.

Vigour index = Germination (%) x (Root length + Shoot length)

 The height of tagged plants from the ground to the tip of the main stem was measured and the mean values were expressed in cm. The data on growth attributes viz., plant height, number of branches/plant, and LAI were also recorded. The crop matured in 75 days and was harvested. After harvesting, the capsules present in the tagged plants were counted and the average was calculated to obtain the number of capsules per plant. The number of seed per capsule were counted and recorded. One thousand seeds from each net plot produced were taken and they’re weight was estimated and expressed in grams. Cleaned and sun-dried grains of net plot area were weighed and sesame seed yield was computed and expressed in kg/ha. The recorded data were analyzed statistically and critical differences were calculated using the standard procedures.

Statistical analysis

Data were statistically analyzed following the procedure given by Gomez and Gomez,2010 [1]. A two-way ANOVA was used to determine the significant difference between an intercropping system and nutrient management. Wherever the results were significant, critical differences were worked out at a five percent level and non-significant results were noted as N.S.

Results and Discussion

The effect of seed pelleting and supplemental nutrition showed a significant effect on the growth and yield of sesame (Table 1). The seedling characteristics like germination percentage and population/ha recorded a significant difference in pelleted and non-pelleted seeds. The results revealed that the seed pelleting on growth characters such as plant height (113.1cm), number of branches/plant (7.2), plant population (1.02 lakhs/ha), and vigor index (2352) showed significant values as compared to non-pelleted. Planting pelleted seeds produced a higher rate of emergence [10]. A similar result of a higher vigour index in pelleted seed was observed by [5]. Among the foliar spray, combined nutrient spray (1.5%) recorded higher values in plant height (120.9 cm), number of branches/plant (7.4)) and higher plant population (1.02 lakhs/ha).

Eventually, as per the growth attributes, sesame seed pelleted with neem leaf powder and biofertilizers produced significant yield attributes (Table 2.) with a higher number of capsules/plant (116.9), number of seeds/capsules (62.1) and seed yield (758 kg/ha). The combined nutrient spray (1.5%) recorded higher values on the number of capsules/plant (132.9), number of seeds/capsule (72.9), and seed yield (900 kg/ha). The foliar spray would have facilitated enhancing the number of floral buds and reducing the flower drop resulting in a higher number of capsules per plant and number of seed per capsule [3] [11].

The technology will be viable not only on the superiority in yield but also on the economics. The results of the experiment reveal that the pelleted seeds recorded a higher B:C ratio of 2.32 as against 2.26 in non-pelleted seeds. Likewise, the combined nutrient spray @ 1.5 % recorded the highest B:C ratio of 2.77 as compared to control and other treatments.

Conclusion

The results of the field experiment reveal that seed encapsulation through organics produces uniform germination with higher vigor index resulting in higher sesame seed yield. Foliar spray of combined nutrient spray @ 1.5 % at flowering and capsule formation stage recorded a higher number of capsules and sesame seed yield as compared to the control.

Future scope of the study

Mechanization is the need of the hour, hence, seed encapsulation is prerequisite for mechanized sowing. The study will support for seed pelleting technology and for better crop establishment. Further, demand for sesame is high because of its multiple usages, hence the supplemental foliar nutrition techniques address solution for improving the productivity of sesame.

Acknowledgement

My sincere gratitude to my alma mater Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore for giving me the opportunity for carrying out this field investigation. I express my bountiful thanks to the research team involving Agronomist, Crop Physiologist and Seed technologist for their technical support.

Conflict of interest

There is no conflict of interest. The authors had full access to all set of data and take complete responsibility for the accuracy of the data analysis.

References

[1.]      Gomez, K. A. and A. A. Gomez. 2010. Statistical Procedures for Agricultural Research,” Wiley India Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, 2010.

[2.]      Harisudan C and Sapre N. 2019. Evaluation of crop establishment methods and foliar nutrition for enhancing productivity of rice fallow/follow sesame (Sesamum indicum L.). Journal of Oilseeds Research, 36(1): 89-92.

[3.]      Harisudan C, Vincent S. 2019. Enhancing source-sink partitioning efficiency and productivity of sesame. Madras Agricultural Journal: 106(7/9):488-491.

[4.]      Hridya, V. Rejendran, S. Lakshmi and B.Venudevan. 2015. Seed invigouration with botanicals to improve physiological performance of soybean (Glycine max (L.) merrill) seeds. Indian J. Agric. Res., 49(4): 363-367.

[5.]      Kalaiyarasi, G and M. Ganapathy Ramu. 2018. Effect of seed pelleting by vermicopost on sesame seeds (Sesame indicum). Plant Archives 18(1):984-986.

[6.]      Langham, D.R., “Phenology of sesame,” in Issues in New crops and New Uses, J. Janick and A. Whipkey, Eds., pp. 144–182, ASHS Press, Alexandria, VA, USA, 2007.

[7.]      Meena, H.M and A. S. Rao. 2013. Growing degree days requirement of sesame (Sesamum indicum) in relation to growth and phonological development in Western Rajasthan. Current Advances in Agricultural Sciences 5(1): 107-110.

[8.]      Ramesh K, Harisudan C, Ramanamurthy KV, Dhir BC, Azizqureshi A, Yadav P. 2021. Response of rice fallow sesame to tillage practices and graded fertilizer doses under varied soil types. Extended Summaries: 5th International Agronomy Congress; November 23-27, 2021, India.389-391.

[9.]      Ramesh,K., P Ratnakumar, C Harisudan, S Bhaskar and A Vishnuvardhan Reddy. 2019. Sesame (Sesamum indicum) in the rice fallow environment – A critical appraisal.
 J. Oilseeds Res., 36(4) : 203-209.

[10.]    Tuna Dogan, Erdem Aykas, N. Hayrullah Tuvay and Ahmet Zeybek, 2005. A Study on Pelleting and Planting Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.)Seeds. Asian Journal of Plant Sciences, 4: 449-454.

[11.]    Vijaya Geetha V, K Sathiya and C Harisudan. 2020. Efficacy of botanicals and biofertilizers in sesame seed treatment. International Journal of Chemical Studies 2020; 8(3): 1252-1254.

Table 1. Effect of seed pelleting and supplemental nutrition on growth attributes of sesame

(Pooled data of Summer 2019 and Summer 2020)

Table 2. Effect of seed pelleting and supplemental nutrition on yield attributes of sesame

(Pooled data of Summer 2019 and Summer 2020)

Table 3. Effect of seed pelleting and supplemental nutrition on economics of sesame

(Pooled data of Summer 2019 and Summer 2020)