EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SEED PRIMING METHODS ON RICE (Oryza sativa L.) CV SUKKHA DHAN-3

Priming is control hydration of seeds in a solution of low osmotic potential to initiate germination to ensure uniform and efficient germination of seed. Erratic seed germination is a major problem of rice production that causes poor crop establishment, crops susceptible to abiotic stress, and insect, and disease infestation resulting in poor yield. Different seed priming methods can be a useful technology for farmers to solve this problem. To ascertain the impact of different seed priming methods an experiment was carried out in the Horticulture Lab of Campus of Live Sciences, Dang with 12 treatment combinations with 3 replications laid out in factorial Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The treatments entailed; hydro-priming in tap water, hydro-priming in distilled water, polyethylene glycol PEG 6000 (5%), Ascorbic acid (2%), KNO3 (2%), Salicylic acid (2%), ZnSO4 (5%), NaCl (5%), MgCl2 (5%), CaCl2 (2%), Gibberellin (300ppm) and No priming as Control. The seeds were soaked for 24 hours in treatments followed by 12 hours of drying. The Priming treatment with ZnSO4 (5%) showed the most promising results for germination percentage (82%), root: shoot ratio (1.91), germination rate (5.47), germination energy (76.67) and seedling vigor. ZnSO4 (5%) was followed by PEG 6000(5%), distilled water, and KNO3 (2%). Beside this, root length (9.94cm) was found highest in PEG 6000(5%) followed by ZnSO4 (5%), KNO3 (2%), and distilled water. Shoot length (8.003cm), Speed of germination (90.38), and germination rate index (76.67) were highest in KNO3 (2%). This study concludes that ZnSO4 (5%) showed the best result among all treatments and all the priming treatments showed better performance except Salicylic acid (2%) and No priming (Control). The study concluded that besides Salicylic acid (2%), seed priming was found to be more effective than no priming and in enhancing seed performance by activating overall metabolic processes of seed.