Studies on the Effect of Pre-Sowing Treatments on Germination Behaviour of Ribes alpestre Wall. Ex Decne Seeds.

Asian gooseberry (Ribes alpestre) is an important wild edible shrub of dry temperate and cold desert region of Western Himalaya. An experimental trial was conducted to study the effect of different pre-sowing treatments on seed germination of R. alpestre under laboratory condition. The ripened berries were collected from the naturally growing shrubs and seeds were extracted from the berries, dried and sown in petridishes in seed germinator after giving presowing treatments. It was found that seeds treated with conc. H₂SO₄ for 2 minutes (T₆) recorded maximum 69.33 percent germination followed by 64.66 percent germination in seed treated with conc. H₂SO₄ for 1 minute (T₅) where as untreated seeds (control) recorded minimum 39.00 per cent germination. Therefore, it is recommended that the seed of R. alpestre should be treated with conc. H₂SO₄ for 2 minutes followed by 24 hours soak in cold water before sowing in the nursery for breaking seed dormancy and getting maximum germination.