Evaluation of viability in gamma-irradiated M2 generation Indigofera zollingeriana seeds on saline soil conditions

Abstract Cultivation of Indigofera zollingeriana plants as potential animal feed. Its development is often constrained by land limitations; one solution is directed to saline land because its availability is quite extensive. However, there are problems with the availability of seeds and low viability to adapt well to saline soil. Mutant 2 (M2) is the second generation of gamma-irradiated Indigofera zollingeriana plants grown on saline soil. This study aims to evaluate the viability of the seeds. The study was conducted in a randomized block design (RBD) with three treatments of M2 generation I. zollingeriana seeds resulting from gamma ray irradiation, consisting of 100 Gy, 200 Gy, 300 Gy, and 0 Gy (non-radiation) with six replications. Data were analyzed using ANOVA, and if there were significant differences, they were analyzed further using the Duncan’s multiple range test (DMRT). The results showed that the highest percentage of growth of sprouts was in the 200 Gy treatment (23.67%), which was not significantly different from the 0 Gy (20.22%) and 100 Gy (22.0%). However, it was significantly different from 300 Gy irradiation, which had low germination (14.89%). The lowest fungal infection of seeds in the 100 Gy treatment (3.0%) was not significantly different from 0 Gy and 200 Gy, which obtained 5.33% and 8.11%, respectively, significantly different from the 300 Gy treatment, which experienced the highest fungal infection (20.44%). It was concluded that the viability of I. zollingeriana seeds showed that the 100 and 200 Gy treatments were better than the other treatments.