Evaluation of <i>Ferula assa-foetida</i> L. accessions under different temperature regimes to overcome seed dormancy and different media mixtures to promote seedling growth

Ferula assa-foetida L., a perennial crop of the Apiaceae family, has internal physical seed dormancy that inhibits its germination ability. Hence, to improve germination capacity and overcome seed dormancy, the present study was conducted using six accessions for assessing seed viability using 1% Tetrazolium test three times every 6 months and grown under three different temperature treatments (5, 15, and 25 °C) during 2018–19 and 2019–20. These accessions were also grown under six different potting mixtures to optimize the best media for its survivability under field conditions. Results from the tetrazolium test indicated an average seed viability of 73.03% and showed an ∼5% reduction during 2018–20. From germination tests, a chilling treatment of 5 °C was found most effective for breaking dormancy. Besides, the seedlings grown under different potting mixtures showed that media mixtures in the combination of soil, sand, farmyard manure, and cocopeat were most appropriate for better germination stand. However, further studies are required to explain the agro-practices to cultivate this endangered plant at field capacity. It was also observed that genotypes EC966538 and EC968470 were best performers for overall germination as well as seedling survival parameters and could be used as base populations in future selection and improvement breeding programs.