Seed Priming Application of Gibberellic Acid on Growth, Biochemical, Yield Attributes and Protein Status of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L. cv. DCP 92-3)

A pot experiment was conducted at a net house of the Department of Botany, Aligarh Muslim University, in the ‘rabi’ season of October, 2009 to March, 2010 to evaluate the effects of gibberellic acid (GA) on growth, physio-biochemical, yield and quality parameters of chickpea cultivar DCP 92-3. Surface sterilized seeds of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) were soaked in four concentrations viz., 0,10,10 and 10M solution of GA for 4, 8, or 12 h and sown in pots. The potted plants were analysed at 90 and 100 days after sowing (DAS) for shoot length, leaf area (LA) per plant, and carbonic anhydrase (CA) activity. The pod number, seed yield per plant and protein content was estimated at harvest. All parameters were found to be significantly enhanced by different levels of GA, with stimulation being noted following a 8-h soaking treatment with 10MGA. Moreover, the mentioned parameters were enhanced by 69.33%, 68.79%, and 87.06% respectively over the control at the 90 DAS stage. The pod number per plant, seed yield per plant and protein content were stimulated by 82.69%. 5.44% and 54.32% respectively.