Effect of priming on seed germination characteristics of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

ABSTRACT: An experiment was conducted in order to evaluate the effect of different seed priming techniques on germination and morphological characters of wheat at 2012 in a factorial experiment based on the complete randomized block design with 2 factors in Iran. Seeds were primed for 20, 40 and 60 hours in seven priming media (PEG 5%, PEG 10%, KNO3 1%, KNO3 2%, KCl 2%, KCl 4% and distilled water as control). Results shows that when seed primed by KNO3 2% maximum seed germination percentage was observed. The most seedling length and radical length were obtained for seeds with KCl 2% for 60 h and KCl 4% respectively. Rate of germination was improved when the seed soaked KNO3 2% compared with PEG, KCL and water. Increasing of seed soaking duration improved some parameters such as seedlings length, radicle length, stem dry weight and rate of germination. There was interaction between seed priming media × priming duration showed the beneficial effects on seedling length and number of germination.