Judul: Osmoconditioning Treatment to Increase Vigor and Shelf Life of Chili Seeds (Capsicum annum L)
Abstrak: Cabai (Capsicum annum L.) adalah salah satu komoditas hortikultura dengan permintaan tinggi, namun produktivitasnya masih lebih rendah daripada potensinya. Salah satu upaya meningkatkan produktivitas cabai adalah penggunaan benih bermutu. Perlakuan invigorasi dapat meningkatkan vigor benih, terutama keserempakan pemunculan benih di lapang sehingga pertumbuhan tanaman lebih seragam. Penelitian ini bertujuan meningkatkan vigor benih cabai yang telah mundur melalui perlakuan osmoconditioning dengan PEG 6000 dan mempelajari daya simpan benih dan pertumbuhan benih di lapang setelah invigorasi. Penelitian dilakukan di Laboratorium Teknik Benih dan Perbanyakan Tanaman, Politeknik Pertanian Negeri Payakumbuh pada bulan Maret hingga Agustus 2021. Penelitian terdiri atas 4 bagian percobaan, yaitu (1) Penetapan lama perendaman benih cabai untuk invigorasi, dalam rentang waktu 18-26 jam, (2) Penetapan tekanan osmotik yang tepat untuk invigorasi benih cabai, disusun dalam Rancangan Acak Lengkap (RAL) satu faktor yaitu PEG 6000 tekanan -1,1 MPa dan -1,5 MPa, (3) Daya simpan benih setelah invigorasi, menggunakan rancangan tersarang, terdiri atas faktor suhu penyimpanan yang tersarang pada periode penyimpanan dan (4) Perkecambahan dan pertumbuhan vegetatif di lapang setelah invigorasi benih. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa perendaman selama 24 jam dalam osmotikum PEG 6000 bertekanan -1,1 MPa mampu meningkatkan vigor dan viabilitas benih cabai yang telah mundur. Benih yang diberi perlakuan osmoconditioning PEG 6000 -1,1 MPa mampu mempertahankan mutunya selama 2 minggu dan meningkatkan daya tumbuh benih di lapang namun tidak berpengaruh terhadap pertumbuhan vegetatif tanaman., Chili (Capsicum annum L.) is one of horticultural crops with high demand. Chilli productivity is generally lower than its potential. The use of quality seeds is one of important steps to increase production seed invigoration is a treatment ti improve viability and vigor, especially seed emergence inthe field thus increase plant growth uniformity Improvement of seed quality can be achieved through invigoration. This study was aimed to improve the quality of chili seeds by osmoconditioning using PEG 6000 and to study the storability of the invigorated seeds. The research was conducted at the Seed and Plant Propagation Engineering Laboratory, Payakumbuh State Agricultural Polytechnic from March to August 2021. The research consisted of 4 experiments i.e, 1) Determin the soaking duration for seed invigoration, within the range of 18-26 hours, 2) determin the suitable osmotic pressure for expired chili seed invigoration, arranged in a completely randomized design (CDR) with one factor i.e, PEG 6000 at -1,1 MPa and -1,5 MPa with 4 replications, 3) seed stability after invigoration treatment, using CRD nested design in which storage period was nested to storage temperature, and 4) field emergence and vegetative growth in the field following seed invigoration. The result showed that invigoration by soaking the seed in PEG 6000 at -1,1 MPa for 24 hour increased vigor and viability of expired chili seeds. The improved vigor post osmoconditioning was able to be maintained for 2 weeks. Osmoconditioning in PEG 6000 at -1,1 MPa increased field emergence but had no effect on the vegetatif growth of the plants.
Keyword: expired seed, soaking duration, PEG 6000, seed storage, vegetative growth