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Seed longevity is an important trait of seed quality, and it depends on physiological, genetic and environmental factors. Seed longevity is highly dependent on storage conditions, water content, temperature and atmosphere. The present investigation was carried out in the Department of Seed Science and Technology, Advanced Post Graduate Centre, Lam, Guntur, during 2019-20 using Factorial Completely Randomized Design (FCRD) with four replications. Initially, fresh seed of the sorghum variety NTJ-5 was subjected to accelerated aging at 45°C and 95% RH for 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. A highly significant decrease in germination, seedling length, seedling vigour index and field emergence was noticed with an increase in the duration of accelerated aging. Unlike all the physiological parameters, the electrical conductivity (EC) of seed leachates increased with aging treatment. The aged and unaged seed was stored in a cloth bag for six months under ambient conditions to study the storability of the seed. Results revealed that there was a highly significant decrease in all the physiological parameters under study except EC of seed leachates with an increase in the period of storage. The interaction effect between accelerated aging and storage period showed that the initial germination recorded with 24 h (75.25%) of accelerated aging was almost equivalent to the germination recorded with the unaged (control) seed after four months (74.25%) of storage.

Keywords: Accelerated ageing, Electrical conductivity, Germination, Sorghum, Storability.