Seed germination and storage studies in seed fertile Musa indandamanensis and its conservation

Abstract

The quest for prospecting crop wild relatives in search of traits of economic importance has been gaining importance worldwide. Endemic species of such significance need to be given urgent attention for conservation, not only for their future potential uses in modern day agriculture but also due to the roles they play in the ecosystem of their areas of origin and rather narrow distribution. In this research, various aspects of assisted regeneration viz. pretreatment, substrate, storage life, stage for transplanting and post-transplanting survival were studied in an endemic, threatened wild banana species (Musa indandamanensis). Based on germination percentage, growth parameters, seedling vigour index and seedling survival, treatment of freshly extracted seeds with 0.1% KNO3 for 24 h prior to sowing in vermicompost as substrate was recommended for mass multiplication of the species. Seed storage behavior was studied in the species, which suggested that the species exhibits intermediate seed storage behavior. Seed viability was reduced over time especially after three months of storage and corresponding reduction in seedling vigour index was also recorded. Based on photosynthetic pigments analysis, eight leaf stage was found to be the best for transplanting the seedlings in the field with 100% survival. The species was conserved in field gene bank and Biological Park for facilitating its characterization and subsequent utilization.