Appraising the Biochemical Responses in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Seedlings under Various Seed Treatments

A study was conducted to analyse the effect of pesticides and biofertilizers on enzymatic activity of dehydrogenase, catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in seedlings of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties (WH1105 and WH1124) and their old and fresh seed lots. This experiment was conducted in the laboratories at the Department of Seed Science and Technology, CCS Haryana Agricultural University in Hisar during 2020. A total of 16 treatment combinations were applied to the seeds in the experiment, including control, which were subsequently used for germination. The seedlings of the wheat cultivars were germinated in between paper at controlled temperature 20oC. 4 days old germinated seedlings were used for the analyses of the biochemical parameters. This finding revealed that the seedlings germinated from seeds treated with T5-Azotobacter+PSB exhibited highest biochemical activity, followed by T4-Phosphate Solubilizing Bacteria. The application of biofertilizers enhanced the dehydrogenase, catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase enzyme activities, whereas the T1-Chlorpyrifos reduced the biochemical activities of the wheat seedlings. The results demonstrated that Chlorpyrifos had an adverse effect on the biochemical activities and inhibiting seedlings optimal growth and inducing stress-related challenges for wheat seedlings.