SEED VIGOUR ASSESSMENT FOR HEAT TOLERANCE IN BREAD WHEAT

Planting of high quality seed is always a key component for all cropping systems worldwide. Seed with high quality is required to ensure adequate plant populations, with reasonable seeding rates, in a range of field and climatic condition. Seed quality at the time of planting represents the integrated effects of the environment and genotypes during seed production and the environmental and management to which the seeds were exposed during harvest, processing, and storage. Unfavorable environmental conditions like high temperature, difference between day and night temperatures, rainfall, relative humidity and sun shine during seed development and maturation in the field could reduce quality of seed. Nowadays, this is becoming a serious problem particularly in Northern India. Seed vigour is the most important quality parameters which depends upon multiple physiological and biochemical attributes. The information on such parameters and also basis to classify the various wheat genotypes as heat tolerance and susceptible is very much needed for present day crop husbandry.