The present investigation was carried out from July 2013 to July 2015, wherein 100 g of fresh quality seed of onion cv. GWO 1 was having high germination percentage and moisture content below 8 per cent. The treatment consisted of two storage conditions (C) viz., C 1 (Ambient temperature) and C 2 (Cold storage at 7 0 C + 2 0 C); two packing materials (P) viz., P 1 = Cloth Bag and P 2 = Polythene Bag (500 gauge = 125 µ), and five seed treatments (S) viz., S 1 = Control, S 2 = Carbendazim @ 2g/kg seed, S 3 = Mancozeb @ 2g/kg seed, S 4 = Thirum @ 3g/kg seed, and S 5 = Neem leaf powder @ 10g / kg seed. After proper mixing or smearing the seeds as per the treatments, seeds were packed and stored as per treatments. Observations were recorded at 90 days interval on viability and vigour parameters. The results revealed that seed stored under cold storage (7±2 °C) and in polyethylene bags (500 gauge) noted significantly higher values for all the characters even after two years of storage. All the treatment combinations of seed stored under cold storage gave more than 70 per cent germination (As per ISTA standard) even after two years of storage, of which, seed treated with thirum @ 3g/kg seed was the best treatment. Therefore, it can be concluded that seed of onion can be stored up to two year in cold storage packed in polyethylene bag without or with seed treatment without deterioration in germination and seedling vigour.

The discriminant-function technique was used to construct selection indices in 48 genotypes of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Sixty-three selection indices involving grain yield per plant and its five components were constructed using the discriminant function technique. The efficiency of selection increased with the inclusion of more characters in the selection index. The index based on four characters viz., grain yield per plant, the number of grains per main spike, grain weight per main spike and biological yield per plant recorded the highest genetic gain and relative efficiency. The use of these indices is advocated for selecting high yielding genotypes of bread wheat.

An experiment was carried out at the Department of Seed Science and Technology, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh, to characterize 28 wheat varieties of different species [17 varieties (MP 4010, HI 1500, HI 1531, HI 1544, GW 1, GW 503, DL 788-2, HD 2932, GW 11, GW 173, GW 190, GW 273, LOK 1, GW 322, MP 3288, GW 366 and GW 496) of Triticum aestivum, 9 varieties (HI 8381, HI 8498, HI 8627, HI 8713, A 28, A 206, GDW 1255, GW 1139 and RAJ 1555) of Triticum durum and 2 varieties (DDK 1025, DDK 1029) of Triticum dicoccum)] released for general cultivation in Gujarat at state level as well as at the National level in Central India based on the seed morphological characters. Based on the seed colour, the varieties were grouped into amber (25), white (1) and red (2). On the basis of seed shape, wheat varieties were separated in to round (2) ovate (7), oblong (12) and elliptical (7). On the basis of seed size, varieties were grouped into medium seed size (5), bold seed size (15) and very bold seed size (8). On the basis of seed hardness, varieties were grouped into soft (1), semi-hard (7) and hard (20). Based on the seed germ width, varieties were grouped into medium (15), wide (9) and narrow (4) seed germ width types. The varieties were grouped based on the seed crease into three groups, as medium (11),shallow (12) and deep (5) grain crease types. Based on the brush hair length, wheat varieties were grouped as short (17), medium (7) and long (4) brush hair length types.

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The present investigation was carried out in laboratory of the Department of Seed Science and Technolo-gy, College of Agriculture, Junagadh Agricultural University, Junagadh from the April 2013 to April 2015, wherein two kg of freshly harvested quality seed of soybean cv. Gujarat Junagadh Soybean 3 having high germination percentage and low moisture content (below 8%) was taken for each repetition and for each combination of treat-ments. The treatment consisted of two storage conditions (C) viz., C1 (Ambient temperature) and C2 (Cold storage at 7oC + 2oC), and five seed treatments (S) viz., S1 = Control, S2 = Carbendazim @ 2g/kg seed, S3 = Mancozeb @ 2g/ kg seed, S4 = Neem leaf powder @ 10g/kg seed, and S5 = Neem Oil @ 5 ml/kg seed. The experiment was carried out using Completely Randomized Design (Factorial) repeated three times. After proper mixing or smearing the seeds as per the treatments, seeds were packed in cloth bag and kept in laboratory under two different storage conditions. Observations were recorded at 90 days interval on germination (%), root length (cm), shoot length (cm), seedling dry weight (g), seed vigour index I, seed vigour index II and seed moisture content (%). The results revealed that storage condition (C) and seed treatments (S) exhibited significant differences almost for the all the traits for germination and seedling parameters after 2 years of storage. The results of soybean seed stored in two different storage conditions showed that on an average, the seed stored under cold storage (70C + 20C) noted higher values for all the traits studied except seed moisture content after 2 years of storage. Among the seed treatments, on an average, after 2 years of seed storage, significantly (P<0.05) higher values were recorded by all the seed treatments over the control. However, seed treated with Mancozeb @ 2g/kg of seed recorded the significantly highest germination percentage (71.50 %) and it was at par with Neem leaf powder @ 10 g / kg seed (70.67%) and Carbendazim @ 2g /kg seed (69.67%) after 2 years of storage. The germination percentage noted in control treatment was 33.17 per cent after 2 years of storage. An ISTA standard for germination in soybean is 70 per cent. Most of the interactions effects were found significant (P<0.05) for all the traits studied.