Author/Authors :
AKBAR, MANZOOR Cereal Crops Research Institute, Pakistan , AHMAD, BASHIR NWFP Agricultural University - NWFP Agricultural University - Department of Agronomy, Pakistan , ARIF, MUHAMMAD NWFP Agricultural University - Department of Agronomy, Pakistan , AHMAD, GULZAR Cereal Crops Research Institute, Pakistan , SHAH, ZUBAIR Cereal Crops Research Institute, Pakistan , JIANHUA, WANG China Agricultural University - Department of Seed Science and Technology, China
Abstract :
Seed priming has been used successfully for the improvement of germination and seedling establishment of most vegetable and field crops. However, few studies have been carried out on seed priming of field crops such as pearl millet. The objectives of this research were to find out the amount of water absorbed by the seed in unit time; to find out the germination%, plumule and radicle growth of soaked seed and to evaluate the effect of different osmoconditioning media on germination percentage, plumule and radicle growth. Three experiments were conducted at Agronomy Department, NWFP Agricultural University Peshawar and Cereal Crops Research Institute Pirsabak, Nowshera during July 2004. In Experiment 1, seeds of millet cultivars, MS-1 and MS-2 were soaked in distilled water and %moisture absorptionfor 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 or 24 h was measured. In the 2nd experiment, seeds of two pearl millet cultivars (as in Experiment 1) were soaked in distilled water for the same durations and control (dry seed) and germinated in incubator fixed at 25°C. In Experiment 3, seeds of above mentioned cultivars were primed with 4, 8, 12 or 16 g Polyethylene Glycol (PEO) 10000 liter of distilled water and 100, 200, 300 or 400 ml Riverum (organic fertilizer) and Foliar (nutrient solution) litre of distilled water. In Experiment 1, maximum water uptake (31.8%) was observed in 24 h followed by 31.4 and 30.4% for 21 and 18 h where as rapid water absorption took place in 6 h (25.0%) .followed by 3 h (14.4%). In Experiment 2, water soaking for 6 or 9 h gave the highest seed germination in both cultivars. MS-1 and MS-2 gave almost the same seed germination percentages. After 6 h soaking germination percentage, plumule and radicle growth was inversely proportional to soaking time. In Experiment 3, the concentration levels of 12 or 16 g PEG and 300 or 400 ml of Riverum and nutrient solution litre-J of distilled water gave the highest seed germination percentage, plumule and radicle growth. All the osmo-conditioning media were effective in improving the germination percentage, plumule and radicle ofpearl millet. Therefore 12 g of PEG 10000 and 300 ml each of Riverum and Foliar liter -J of water and 6 h priming is suggested for pearl millet seed priming. Further work is needed to find out the response of these chemical and concentration level on stand establishment, growth and overall yield of pearl millet
