Present laboratory experiment was conducted with an objective to know the effect of seed polymer coating with Zn and Fe nanoparticles (NPs) in comparison to their bulk forms on storage potential of pigeonpea seeds. Results revealed that seed polymer coating with Zn and Fe NPs had significant effect on storability of pigeonpea seeds. Among the treatments Zn NPs at 750 ppm was found to be superior in all the studied parameters viz., seed germination (96.00, 88.67 and 81.67 %), seedling length (25.67, 22.57 and 18.60 cm), seedling dry weight (85, 81.45 and 78. 45 mg), field emergence (89.67, 77.67 and 63.33 %), seedling vigour index (2556, 2001 and 1519), alpha amylase and dehydrogenase enzymes activities at 0, 6 and 10 months, respectively and it was statistically on par with Zn NPs at 500 ppm and Fe NPs at 500 ppm. The nanoparticles treatment didn't affect the seed moisture content (%) and insect infestation (%), however the significant difference was observed between polymer coated and uncoated seeds. In over all, the results of the study demonstrated the possibility of application Nanotechnology in Seed Science Research.

A laboratory study was undertaken to know the effect of seed polymer coating with Zn and Fe nanoparticles (NPs) at different concentration (10, 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 750 and 1000 ppm) in pigeonpea at Department of Seed Science and Technology, UAS, Raichur. Among the treatments seed polymer coating with Zn NPs at 750 ppm recorded significantly higher seed germination (96.00 %), seedling length (26.63 cm), seedling dry weight (85.00 mg), speed of germination (32.95), field emergence (89.67 %), seedling vigour index (2556), dehydrogenase activity (0.975 OD value) and α-amylase activity (25.67 mm) and lowest abnormal seedlings (2.50 %) over their bulk forms and control followed by Fe and Zn NPs at 500 ppm. However, in contrast to beneficial effects, these NPs also shown inhibitory effect on germination and seedling growth at higher concentration (nano Zn >750 ppm and nano Fe > 500 ppm). Hence, from the results it is concluded that Zn NPs at 750 ppm can be used to enhance quality of the pigeonpea seeds.

The increase in food production is greatly contributed by green revolution, thereby leading to reduction in people's starvation. However, this caused greater depletion of micronutrient reserve in soil and thereby accentuated wide spread deficiencies of micronutrients in crop species. Hence, biofortification program has been initiated to identify varieties having high iron and zinc along with high yield. In the present study 46 rice genotypes along with 4 checks were received from Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR), Hyderabad, India and were evaluated for yield and yield attributing traits, grain quality parameters and estimation of micronutrients.For yield and yield attributing characters most of the traits showed high heritability associated with high genetic advance indicating fixation of genes and presence of additive gene action in these traits. The results obtained by micronutrient estimation revealed that iron and zinc contents of dehusked grains differed significantly between the genotypes. Among various studied genotypes the promising genotypes with highest grain iron and zinc content along with higher yields and with intermediate amylose content were identified. These promising genotypes identified can be released to farmers after testing in multilocation trials for their stable performance or they can be used as parents in hybridization programme.

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Laboratory and field experiments were conducted to study the effect of seed polymer coating with various micronutrients either alone or in combination and foliar spray on growth, yield and yield attributing characters of cotton, pigeon pea, chickpea and groundnut. In the laboratory experiment, polymer dosage @ 8ml, 6ml, 6ml and 4ml per kg of seeds in cotton pigeon pea, chickpea and groundnut, respectively recorded significantly higher germination and seedling vigour index compared to control and other treatments. In field experiment, irrespective of crops, seed coating with polymer along with micronutrients and two foliar sprays during flowering at an interval of 10 days increased the yield to the extent of 16.7% in cotton, 19.9% in pigeon pea, 16.1% in chickpea and 13.8% in groundnut over control.  Index Terms-seed, micronutrient, polymer and crops B. Standardization of Seed Coating Polymer The cleaned and graded seeds were coated with polymer as per treatment (control, polymer @ 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10ml kg-1 seeds) after diluting with 45 ml distilled water in a rotary seed coating machine available in the Department of Seed Science and Technology. Subsequently the seeds were air dried to bring back to original moisture content and then used for germination test and recording of other observations.

The antagonistic potential of forty four isolates of Trichoderma were evaluated in vitro against the most widely occurring soil borne plant pathogens viz., Macrophomina phaseolina, Rhizoctonia solani, Rhizoctonia bataticola and Sclerotium rolfsii to identify the most potential Trichoderma isolate. Maximum growth inhibition of M. phaseolina (81.11 %), R. solani (82.59 %) and S. rolfsii (76.67 %) was recorded by T. hamatum where as T. virens was most aggressive against R. bataticola (68.15 %) in dual culture technique.

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