Effect of light and temperature on seed germination of important medicinal and aromatic plants in north western Himalayas.docVIP

Int. J. Med. Arom. Plants, ISSN 2249 – 4340 RESEARCH ARTICLE Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 468-475, September 2012 Effect of light and temperature on seed germination of important me- dicinal and aromatic plants in north western Himalayas Rakesh KUMAR*, Saurabh SHARMA Natural Plant Products Division, CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), PO Box No. 6, Palampur, 176 061 (H.P.) India *Corresponding Author, Tel.: +91-1894-233341, Fax: +91-1894-230433 Article History: Received 27 June 2012, Revised 22 August 2012, Accepted 23 August 2012. th nd rd Abstract: Experiments were conducted during January 2009 at CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur, (HP) India to study the effect of light and temperature on seed germination of important medicinal and aro- matic plants viz., Stevia rebaudiana, Salvia sclarea and Tagetes minuta in sand and filter paper. The treatments com- prised of two factors viz., light and temperature regimes under room temperature, 20° C and 10° C. Maximum seed ger- mination was observed in the seed which were placed for 2 days open in room temperature and then placed at 20° C in continuous light in all the three plant species in both media except salvia seeds which recorded maximum germination (76%) when placed in room temperature under light condition in sand. S. rebaudiana recorded 58.7 % and 54.7% germi- nation in sand and paper media, whereas, T. minuta recorded 45.3% and 22.7% germination in both medias, respectively when placed in room temperature for 2 days and then incubated at 20° C in continuous light. Among three plant species, maximum seed germination was recorded by the seeds of S. sclarea in paper (89.3%). Seeds placed in sand medium rec- orded higher germination percentage than the seeds placed on paper in ca