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© 2004 Plant Management Network.
Accepted for publication 13 July 2004. Published 3 August 2004.

Vitazyme Promotes Growth in Pearl Millet

S. A. Deepak, Department of Studies in Applied Botany and Biotechnology, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysore 570 006, India; P. W. Syltie, Vital Earth Resources Research Center, 706 East Broadway, Gladewater, Texas 75647; Chandrashekhara, N. P. Shetty, and H. S. Shetty, Department of Studies in Applied Botany and Biotechnology, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysore 570 006, India

Corresponding author: H. S. Shetty. hss_uom@hotmail.com

Deepak, S. A., Syltie, P. W., Chandrashekhara, Shetty, N. P., and Shetty, H. S. 2004. Vitazyme promotes growth in pearl millet. Online. Crop Management doi:10.1094/CM-2004-0803-01-RS.

Abstract

This study investigated the incorporation of the plant growth promoter Vitazyme as an additional seed-dressing component to pearl millet, along with a regularly recommended systemic fungicide. Preliminary in vitro examination indicated a significant enhancement in seedling vigor for all of the concentrations tested. Vitazyme seed treatments, alone or in combination with Apron 35SD, resulted in improved field emergence. Yield analyses indicated Vitazyme seed treatment alone or in combination with foliar spray showed yield measurements comparable to Apron 35SD. Furthermore, the combination of seed treatments/foliar applications with Apron 35SD provided the best yield improvement.

Introduction

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.) is an important food and forage crop in the semiarid tropics covering 10.11 million ha and producing 7.15 million tons annually (20). Pearl millet is rich in nutrition compared to other cereals, and adapts well to low fertility soils in areas receiving less than 400 mm of annual precipitation (2). Seed dressing with Apron 35SD (metalaxyl) formulations protects pearl millet plants from diseases by up to 90%, and significantly increases yields (18). Recent reports reveal that treatment with growth promoting biotic and abiotic agents at the seed stage can be very effective in improving the qualitative and quantitative parameters of pearl millet (5,9). Further, seed treatments, more than most other crop treatments, are economically feasible for farmers in developing countries, especially for growing pearl millet. Vitazyme contains vital components from natural plant sources required for luxuriant plant growth such as tricontanol, B-vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and cobalamine), biotin, folic acid, niacin, and other as yet unquantified growth regulators such as certain glycosides and porphyrins (19). The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of Vitazyme treatments on seedling vigor, seedling emergence and grain yield under downy mildew disease stress conditions, which normally occur in most pearl millet growing regions.

Seed vigor Assessment Methods

Seeds of pearl millet cultivar (‘HB3’) were obtained from All India Coordinated Pearl Millet Improvement Project (AICPMIP). Fresh stocks of commercially available Vitazyme were obtained from Vital Earth Resources (Gladewater, TX), and used for all of the experiments. Vitazyme dilutions of 0.0001, 0.001, 0.05, 0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, 2, 3, 6, 12, and 24% were prepared in sterile distilled water. HB3 seeds were treated by soaking the seed in the above concentrations at 26°C for 6 h in a rotary shaker at 100 rpm. Seedling vigor analysis was carried out using the paper towel method as outlined in the International Seed Testing Association (6). After the seed treatment with different concentrations of Vitazyme, seeds were placed on moist germination paper and maintained at 27 + 2°C. Apron 35SD and Apron 35SD in combination with Vitazyme (2% solution) were also tested using the same methods. Seeds treated with sterile distilled water for the same time intervals served as the control. After seven days, germination percentage, root length, and shoot length were recorded, and the vigor index was calculated using the formula:

vigor index = [mean root length + mean shoot length] × % germination (1).

Four replicates of a hundred seeds each were incubated for each treatment and the experiment was repeated three times. Results were subjected to arcsine transformation and analysis of variance (ANOVA) (JMP Software; SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Significance effects of different treatments were determined by the magnitude of the F value (P = 0.001). Treatment means were separated by Tukey's HSD test.

Seed vigor Results and Discussion

Soaking of pearl millet seeds in Vitazyme dilutions at different concentrations had varied influences on seed germination and seedling vigor (Table 1). In comparison to the control, some of the Vitazyme concentrations significantly enhanced pearl millet seed germination, while there was a significant increase in the vigor index across all of the concentrations tested. The highest vigor index (1247) was noted when Apron and Vitazyme (2% solution) were combined followed by a vigor index of 1203 for Vitazyme at the 2% concentration. Based on these results, we performed further studies using this concentration, although significant differences were also noticed at other concentrations.

Table 1. Effect of Vitazyme seed treatments to pearl millet on seed quality parameters.

Values are means of three independent trials.

Means followed by the same letter(s) within the column are not significantly different according to Tukey’s HSD.

Field Trial Methods

A field trial was conducted during monsoon 2002, summer, and monsoon 2003 with different modes of treatment: Vitazyme seed treatment (2% solution), seed treatment (Vitazyme at 2% solution) + foliar spray (Vitazyme at 1% solution), seed treatment with Apron 35SD (metalaxyl at 2 g a.i./kg of seed) + Vitazyme (1%), Apron 35SD (metalaxyl at 2 g a.i./kg of seed), and a sterile distilled water treated control. The trial was conducted in a pearl millet experimental plot that has been infested with downy mildew disease causing oospores of Sclerospora graminicola for over two decades. Four replications were maintained for each treatment. The size of the field plot was 10 × 5 m and the crop was managed using recommended normal agronomic practices. A plant-to-plant distance in the rows of 15 cm, and a row-to-row distance of 75 cm, were used. The experimental design was a Randomized Block Design. Field emergence data were taken on the 4th day after sowing from all treatments, as the total number of seeds sown verses the total number of emerged seedlings. Downy mildew disease incidence in all of the above treatments was recorded at 60 days after sowing based on the disease symptoms (17). Yield data were collected from the central 3.8 m of the two center rows (net plot size = 5.7 m²). Grain yield was assessed following standard procedures (22). Results were subjected to arcsine transformation and analysis of variance (ANOVA) (JMP Software; SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC). Significance effects of different treatments were determined by the magnitude of the F value (P = 0.001). Treatment means were separated by Tukey's HSD test.

Field Trial Results

Field emergence in Vitazyme treatments showed better results over Apron 35SD and control (Fig. 1). The seed treatment with Vitazyme resulted in 70% emergence while Apron 35SD showed 59% seedling emergence. Further, Apron 35SD combined with Vitazyme enhanced emergence to the highest level recorded, 82% compared to 52% in the control.

Fig. 1. Efficacy of Vitazyme and Apron 35SD seed treatments to pearl millet on seedling emergence under field conditions. Values are means of three independent trials. Degrees of freedom, 3; P = 0.001; bars represent Standard Deviation. Means followed by the same letter(s) within the column are not significantly different according to Tukey’s HSD.

The incidence of downy mildew disease was not significant among the control and Vitazyme treatments, or among the Apron treatment and the combinations of Apron and Vitazyme (Fig. 2). The Vitazyme treatments produced varied effects on grain yield under field conditions depending on how Vitazyme was applied and whether it was applied with or without Apron, but all Vitazyme increases were significant (Fig. 3). Among the different methods of treatment, the combination of Vitazyme (seed treatment along with foliar spray) with Apron 35SD was the most effective. Seed treatment using a 2% concentration of Vitazyme resulted in a yield of 1629 kg/ha, while Vitazyme seed treatment followed by a foliar spray resulted in a 1654 kg/ha yield. Seed treatment with the routinely recommended Apron 35SD resulted in a 1755 kg/ha yield. In comparison with all of the above results, seed treatment with both Apron 35SD and Vitazyme produced a yield of 1790 kg/ha which was further increased to 1813 kg/ha when a foliar spray of Vitazyme was added. This combination shows the greatest prospect for enhancing pearl millet yields, and also indicates the compatibility of Vitazyme with the systemic fungicide Apron 35SD.

Fig. 2. Downy mildew incidence (60DAS) under adverse plot conditions in Vitazyme and Apron 35SD treatments. Values are means of three independent trials. Degrees of freedom 5; P = 0.001; bars represent Standard Deviation. Means followed by the same letter(s) within the column are not significantly different according to Tukey’s HSD.		Fig. 3. Effect of Vitazyme and Apron 35SD treatments to pearl millet on grain yield of pearl millet. Values are means of three independent trials. Degrees of freedom 66; P = 0.001; bars represent Standard Deviation. Means followed by the same letter(s) within the column are not significantly different according to Tukey's HSD.

Discussion

In the present investigation, Vitazyme treatments improved the seedling vigor index of pearl millet, and thus improved the productive potential of the crop. Triacontanol is the major component (33 mg/ml) of Vitazyme and is known to stimulate the production of secondary messengers, namely, 9-Beta-L(+)-adenosine, also identified as 9H-purin-6-amine and 9-Beta-L-ribofuranosyl which are responsible for the growth of seedlings (11,12,13,14,15,16). Triacontanol is able to increase plant growth and yield at extremely low concentrations, down to 1 nanogram/dm³ (7), especially in the colloidal state, illustrating how Vitazyme can be active in field applications of 1 liter/ha or less. Although the effect of vitamins on plant growth has been researched little, their influence on growth as leaf or soil amendments is likely to be highly beneficial (19). By stimulating greater root exudation of carbohydrates and other compounds which rhizosphere microbes consume, and in turn, use to produce a wide array of organic acids, antibiotics, growth regulators (especially auxins and cytokinins), and vitamins, Vitazyme stimulates the uptake of additional positive growth factors and essential nutrients (19). Published accounts on the effects of these growth promoters reveal positive results for plant growth improvement.

Yield enhancement in pearl millet has been effectively achieved due to cropping methods and crop rotations (3,8). The present-day agronomic practices in India for desert dry farming are responsible for 25 to 60% of the increase in pearl millet yield over the indigenous approach (10). Introduction of metalaxyl based fungicides for seed dressing to pearl millet were responsible for enhanced yield in downy mildew susceptible cultivars (18). In this study, Vitazyme improved seedling vigor even at the lowest concentration tested. Compared to the control treatment, Vitazyme was also able to improve field emergence and yield especially when an additional foliar spray was applied. Umesha et al. (21) also found that growth promotion in the form of improved seed germination and seedling vigor of pearl millet were achieved in seed treatments with biological agents, and Nirajan et al. (9) found that plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), when treated to pearl millet seed, enhanced vigor at the seedling stage along with other qualitative and quantitative traits.

The combination of Apron 35SD and Vitazyme improved seedling vigor and yield compared to the other treatments used in this study. Under adverse conditions where the soil contains oospores of downy mildew pathogen, yield is reduced due to loss of plants, stunting, and panicle malformation. In this experiment, increased grain yield from the combination of Apron 35SD and Vitazyme over Vitazyme alone indicates the role that Vitazyme played in enhancing the fungicide’s performance. Similarly, seed treatment with Vitazyme improved seedling emergence and grain yield over the control. The resistance inducers, namely benzothiadiazole, calcium chloride, hydrogen peroxide, or cerebroside, were also reported to be enhancers or to have no effect on seed quality parameters, but improved yield significantly (4,5).

Conclusion

Compared with other methods of applying Vitazyme, seed treatment is a more practical and cost effective treatment, especially for pearl millet. The application of effective growth promoters, such as Vitazyme, as a seed dressing for pearl millet, alone or in combination with systemic fungicides, for qualitative and quantitative trait improvement (germination, seedling vigor, and yield), is an appropriate agronomic practice.

Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. S. K. Bhatnagar of ICAR-AICPMIP for the laboratory and field facilities provided.

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