IOSR Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Science (IOSR-JAVS) e-ISSN: 2319-2380, p-ISSN: 2319-2372. Volume 6, Issue 6 (Jan. 2014), PP 07-11 www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org 7 | Page Effect of Seed Soaking On Seed Germination and Growth of Bitter Gourd Cultivars Muhammad Saeed Saleem 1 , Muhammad Sajid 1 , Zaheer Ahmed 2 , Saeed Ahmed 1 , Nazeer Ahmed 3 , And Muhammad Shahid Ul Islam 4 1 Department of Horticulture, The Universtiy of Agriculture, Peshawar- Pakistan 2 Assistant Research Officer, Vegetable Research Farm Singri, Bhimber Azad Kashmir-Pakistan 3 Department of Entomology, The Universtiy of Agriculture, Peshawar- Pakistan 4 Department of Food Science and Technology, The Universtiy of Agriculture, Peshawar- Pakistan Abstract: In order to study the effect of seed soaking on seed germination and growth of bitter gourd cultivars an experiment was conducted at Vegetable Research Farm Singri, Bhimber Azad Kashmir, during March, 2012. Three cultivars of bitter gourd Faisalabad Long, Jaunpuri and Palee were soaked in water for various soaking durations (4, 8, 12 and 16 hours) along with control to determine the optimal soaking duration and find out the best growing cultivar. The highest germination percentage (85.18%), number of branches plant -1 (8.64), fruits plant -1 (20.70) were obtained when the bitter gourd seeds soaked for 12 hours. Earlier emergence (6.28) and earlier flowering (39.40) were recorded in plants where seeds soaked for 16 hours. Cultivar Palee significantly enhanced the germination percentage (85.56%), days to flowering (39.55), numbers of branches plant -1 (8.86), fruits plant -1 (21.09). Seed soaking in water for 12 hours has the potential to improve germination, seedling growth of bitter gourd cultivars. It was concluded that the seed soaking of cultivar Palee for 12 hours showed best results regarding maximum germination and enhanced growth under the agro-climatic conditions of district Bhimber, Azad Kashmir. Pakistan. Key Words: Bitter gourd cultivars, soaking durations, germination, growth I. Introduction Bitter gourd (Momordica charantia L.) usually called Karela or balsam pear, belongs to family Cucurbitaceae. It is one of the most important summer vegetable crop in Pakistan. It is a widespread vegetable grown in Asia and other part of the world. It is usually grown as an annual crop, but it can also perform as a perennial in mild areas and frost-free winters as well. The summer season crop is sown from January to June in the plains (Singh et al., 2006). Optimum temperature of 25-28 0 C is required for the germination of bitter gourd seeds. (Peter et al., 1998). Bitter gourd has tremendous economic and dietic importance. Immature fruit is a good source of Vitamin C, and also contains Vitamin A. Bitter gourd is a blood purifier, activates spleen and liver and is highly beneficial in diabetes (Yibchok-Anun et al., 2006). The Bitter gourd is very much helpful in curing the diabetes. Studies have shown that bitter melon has anti-carcinogenic properties and can be used as a cytotoxic agent against many types of cancer (Grover and Yadav, 2004). Field emergence is always a problem in bitter gourd even with the seeds of high germinability due to thick seed coat. To overcome this problem, pre-sowing treatments soaking or priming of seeds can be practiced. Pre-germinated seeds proved superior in emergence from the soil and in stand establishment. The additional advantages of this treatment include, (i) lower seed rate, (ii) dead seeds can be discarded before sowing, and (iii) germinating, but low vigor seeds can be removed before sowing. Recent studies on a series of crop species demonstrate speedy germination, early emergence, and vigorous seedlings accomplished by seed soaking in water for a while, followed by surface drying prior to sowing, which may lead to higher crop yield (Harris et al 2000). This practice of soaking is expressed that on-farm seed priming is a simple, inexpensive, and less risk process of improving faster seedling establishment and vigorous early crop growth. Each crop cultivar requires a critical soaking duration and it should be less than the safe limit (Harris et al., 2000). Pre-sowing seed treatments resulted in higher germination and earlier seedling emergence, strong growth, early flowering, maturity and high yields. Speedily germinating seedlings also produce deep root system and improved seedling establishment in many crops. Seed soaking is a useful to bitter gourd growers under sub-optimal temperature condition for definite successful seedling establishment (Wang et al., 2002 and Lin and Sung, 2001). The present research work was conducted in order to study the effect of seed soaking on the growth and yield of bitter gourd and to find out the high yielding and better-adopted bitter gourd cultivar under the agro climatic conditions of district Bhimber, Azad Kashmir.