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The root lengths in ammonia-exposed Crotalaria and Cyamopsis were affected. In . Crotalaria ths roots were shorter by 2.4 cm and Cyamopsis by 1.2 cm with respect to their control. The root was slightly longer than the control in fumigated Abelmoschus. However, there was no difference in the root size of control and fumigated Trigonella plants ( Table 1 ). The shoot lengths were also found to be affcted in Crotalaria and Cyamopsis. In Crotalaria seedlings from fumigated seeds had then shoots reduced by 2.0 cm as compared to the control while in Cyamopsis the reduction was 4.6 cm. The shoot length in case of fumigate Abelmoschus i.e., 5.4 cm, that is, longer than in the controls which was 2.9 cm only. There was no difference in shoot lengths in fumigated and control plants of Trigonella ( Table 1 ).

The root-shoot ratio in seedlings from fumigated seeds of Abelmoschus and Crotalaria was reduced showing that the growth of root was ire affected than shoot. Reverse was true for Cyamopsis while there was no change in case of Trigonella indicating equal effect on both root & shoot ( Table 1 ).Unlike Trigonella and Abelmoschus, the 15-day old plants of Cyamopsis and Crotalaria 24 hr after a 3-hr ammonia fumigation showed visible damage symptoms on leaves. The leaf area damage was 40% and 54% respectively the above two plants. The percentages of leaves damaged in the two plant species were 55% and 70%. The damage index ( product of % area damage and % of leaves damaged on each plant ) was 2,200 for Cyamopsis and 3,780 for Crotalaria (Table 2).

The total ch'orophyll, chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b contents of leaves were slightly reduced in the 15-day old plants of Abelmoschus, Crotalaria and Cyamopsis as a result of fumigation with ammonia, the reduction being limited to 1.3 mg / g fresh weight. In Trigonella, however, the effect was more severe, giving 63% loss of total chlorophyll, 58% loss in chlorophyll a and , 70% loss in chlorophyll b. The ratio of chlorophyll a to b was also visibly affected in Trigonella ( Table 2 ).

The shoot length was reduced by ammonia in all the plants studied, though the effect more obvious in Abelmoschus and Crotalaria than in Cyamopsis. The reduction in shoot length accompnied by the formation of less number leaves in Crotalaria, where the number of nodes was reduced to almost half. The length of the fourth internode from the top was also slightly affected in Cyamopsis and Crotalaria. The shoot mass was more severely affected in Abelmoschus compared to than in Cyamopsis. Dry matter yield reduction was highest ( 73% ) in Crotalaria. The Trigonella plants Could not survive for 30 days after fumigation and hence readings could not be taken (Table 3).

Table 2 : Effect of a 3-hr fumigation with 50 ppm ammonia on chlorophyll content, % leaf area damage and % of leaves undergone damage on each of the 15-day old plants of Abelmoschus, Crotalaria, Cyamopsis and Trigonella

Plant Chlorophylls, mg / g fr. wt.
(mean of estimations of 3
plants ± s.d.)		 a / b % L.A.D.
 (mean of day
10 ± s.d.)   		% D. L. Damage( mean  index of 10 (C)
  Total  chl. a chl. a  
  C F C F C F C F (A) (B) (C)
Abelmoschus 6.29±1.4 6.18±1.1 2.80±0.4 2.75±0.1 3.28±0.28 3.22±0.13 0.8 0.8 - - -
Crotalaria  9.37±1.3  8.58±1.2 4.03±0.3 3.65±0.2 5.01±0.32 4.62±0.16 0.8 0.8 54±4.2 70±11.8 3780
Cyamopsis 7.94±1.9 6.60±1.3 3.26±1.4  3.03±0.4 4.38±0.76 3.42±0.26 0.7 0.9 40±8.4 55±7.0 2200
Trigonella 6.65±1.5 2.44±0.95 3.23±0.7 1.36±0.03 3.40± 1.4 1.03±0.16 0.9 1.3 - - -

% L. A. D. = % leaf area damage in cm2                    %D. L.= % of leaves damaged on each plant

Table 3 : Growth performance of Abelmoschus, Cyamopsis, Crotalaria and Trigonella 30 day after a ammonia fumigation at 50 ppm (mean of 10 ± standard deviation)

Plant Shoot length per  
plant, cm 		Number of nodes
 per plant 		Length of 4th internode
from top, cm		 Shoot mass plant
gm
   C  F  C  F C  F C  F
Abelmoschus 33.2±2 20.8±2.7 not studied   net studied  l.lc ± 0.06  0.41 ± 0.02
Crotalaria 29.5±5.5 22.3±74 8.0±0.5 7.0±1.2 4.4±0.5 4.0±1.2 0.76 ± 0.05 0.47 ± 0.03
Cyamopsis 35.5±4 2 24.0±7.9 21±2.1 1.3±2.2 1.8±0.5  1.5± 0.3 0 85 ± 0.06 0.23 ± 0.03
Trigonella - -  - - - - - -


CONCLUSION
The seed germination and growth of seedlings were adversely affected due to ammonia fumigation. The percentage germination was significantly reduced, in 24-hr after fumigation Root and shoot lengths as studied on the 5th day were smaller in fumigated plants with respect to their control except in Abelmoschus were the effect appeared to be stimulatory,especially for shoots. 15-day old plants of Cyamopsis and Crotalaria exhibited visible symptoms of leaf injury unlike in Abelmoschus and Trigonella. Chlorophyll contents were reduced maximally in Trigonella while in Abelmoschus the effect was minimum. The shoot length, number nodes, length of 4th internode from the top and dry matter production in fumigated plants were lower than the control and there was no complete recovery from the damage, even after 30-day of recovery period. The plants studied can be arranged to the following order of sensitivity to ammonia on the basis of dry matter accumulation : Trigonella> Crotalaria> Abelmoschus> Cyamopsis.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are thankful to Prof. B. C. Haldar,Director and Dr. V. D. Tilak, Head of he Botany Department, The Institute of Science,Bombay, for encouragement. The assistance of Dr. P. K. Paria of the Institute and Mr. H. V.Rane of SOCLEEN laboratories, for standardisation of the technique for ammonia emission and estimation is highly appreciated.

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