Effect of seed priming on growth and phenology of wheat under late-sown conditions

Effect of seed priming on growth and phenologyof wheat under late-sown conditions

Surya Kant*, SS Pahuja and RK PannuDepartment of Agronomy, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India. *Present address: Department of

Dryland Biotechnology, J Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Sede-Boqer Campus 84990, Israel([email protected])

Abstract Seeds of four wheat varieties, Sonak, UP 2338, Raj 3765 and PBW 343, weretreated with salts, water or growth regulator before sowing in the field in late winter. Sowingsprouted seeds resulted in more tillers, higher dry matter in leaves, stem and reproductiveparts, and better grain yield. Priming with solutions of indole-3-acetic acid, KCl, water,ZnSO4 and Na2SO4 also gave more plant dry matter and grain yield than unprimed seeds.The plants from primed seeds took less time than the control to reach tillering, jointing,heading and flowering, but physiological maturity in all the treatments was at the same time.Biomass accumulation and grain yield were higher in UP 2338 and Raj 3765 in 1998–99,and in PBW 343 in 1999–2000.

Keywords: wheat, seed priming, tillering, dry matter, phenological development, grainyield.

IntroductionIn northwestern and central zones of India, the optimum time of wheat sowing is first to thirdweek of November, but often sowing is delayed until December or early January because oflate harvesting of the preceding crop or shortage of canal water for pre-sowing irrigation.This delay reduces the grain yield by 0.7% per day (Singh and Singh 1991; Ortizmonasterioet al. 1994) as a result of delayed emergence, poor crop stands, less tillering and growth, anda shorter grain development period. Quicker and better establishment of seedlings andenhanced yield could be achieved by seed priming (Kahlon et al. 1992; Nayyar et al. 1995).

Materials and methodsFour wheat varieties of different growth habit and maturity duration were studied: Sonak andRaj 3765, recommended for late-sown conditions; UP 2338, for medium to late sowing; andPBW 343, best suited for November sowing. Seed priming was done by soaking in water, 2%KCl, ZnSO4, and Na2SO4, and 200 ppm indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Sprouted (pre-germi-nated) seeds were also sown, with dry seed as the control. Seeds were soaked for 18 h atroom temperature (12–20˚C) with 1 kg dry seed in 1 litre of water or solution. The seedswere drained, washed with tap water and air dried. For sprouting, the seeds were soaked in an

Trop. Sci. 2004, 44, 9–15

Accepted 26 October 2002

Trop Sci 44.1-crc 6/2/04 1:53 PM Page 9

equal volume of water for 12 h, drained and packed in moist gunny bags, which weresprinkled with water every 6 h until sprouting started. The crop was sown manually on 18December 1998 and 11 December 1999 in ploughed sandy loam soil, slightly alkaline, low inavailable nitrogen, medium in phosphorus and rich in potassium. The experiment was split-plot with three replicates, and varieties as main plot and seed primings as subplots. The plotswere 6 × 5 m overall, 5 × 4.2 m net, and seeds were sown in rows spaced 20 cm apart. Theseed per plot was applied at the rate of 100 kg/ha.

For the biomass accumulation plants were harvested from 25 cm lengths in the second rowon each side of the plot at 30, 60 and 90 days after sowing (DAS), and at harvest. Leaves, stemand spikes were dried at 65±5˚C to constant weight. Tillering, jointing, heading, flowering,milking and physiological maturity were observed every 2 or 3 days, as described by Peterson(1965). The crop was harvested from net plot area for grain and biological (grain + straw)yields.

The data were processed by analysis of variance at the 5% level and critical differenceswere calculated according to Panse and Sukhatme (1995). Only the main effects of treatmentsare given.

ResultsThe tiller number increased up to 75 DAS and declined at harvest in all the varieties (Table 1). Some varietal differences were not significant during the first year. In the second

10 Surya Kant et al.

Table 1. Effect of seed priming on number of tillers (per running metre)

1998–99 1999–2000

45DAS 75DAS at harvest 45DAS 75DAS at harvest

Varieties

Sonak 82.3 85.7 76.8 99.9 106.0 90.4UP 2338 86.2 89.5 79.5 117.1 123.7 104.0Raj 3765 87.1 90.5 80.1 107.6 118.0 101.0PBW 343 79.7 83.7 74.0 118.5 127.6 107.3s.e. m± 1.0 1.2 1.1 1.5 1.0 0.8CD at 5 % 3.4 NS NS 5.2 3.4 2.8

Seed priming

Water 83.9 87.2 76.5 111.4 118.2 99.1Sprouted 93.8 97.0 87.8 124.6 129.9 110.4KCl 85.4 88.0 79.7 113.4 121.8 104.2ZnSO4 81.6 85.8 75.9 109.2 116.8 98.7Na2SO4 79.8 83.2 73.3 106.6 114.6 97.3IAA 88.9 92.1 81.6 114.0 121.9 104.8Control 73.2 78.3 68.4 96.3 108.6 90.5s.e. m± 0.8 1.0 0.9 1.6 1.3 1.1CD at 5 % 2.3 2.8 2.5 4.6 3.6 3.1


year, tillering was greatest in PBW 343 and lowest in Sonak. The number of tillers washighest with sprouted seed sowing, followed by seeds primed with IAA, and least in thecontrol. Accumulation of biomass in leaves was higher than in the stem at 30 and 60 DAS(Tables 2 and 3) and it increased in stem at harvest. The spikes formed about 50% of thebiomass at harvest, followed by stem and leaves. There were some varietal differences in1998-99, but many more in 1999–2000. Biomass accumulation was significantly higher inplants from sprouted seeds, followed by priming with IAA, and it was lowest in the control.

In 1999-2000, the developmental stages after tillering were later than in 1998-99 (Table 4).PBW 343 took the longest time to reach each stage but there were no significant differencesbetween varieties in the time to maturity. The time taken for all the developmental phases wasleast in sprouted seed and most with dry seed. The difference in days taken was more attillering, but it was less as the crop age advanced. For all varieties, the grain and biologicalyields were better in 1999–2000 than in 1998-99 (Table 5). They were significantly higher insprouted seed, followed by priming treatment with IAA, and least in the control. The grainyield was 21.7 and 15.6% greater with sprouted seed than the control in the two years.

DiscussionThe results confirm the better tillering of wheat with sprouted and/or water soaking (Singhand Singh 1991; Kahlon et al. 1992), priming with solutions of IAA (Chhipa and Lal 1978)and KCl (Misra and Dwivedi 1980). The plants accumulated about 75% of the total biomassin the leaves at 30 DAS, indicating that most of the energy intake was used to develop greencrop cover and to provide proper support for the developing tillers. After 60 DAS, dry matteraccumulated faster in the stems. The increase in dry matter of leaves and stem was due to acontinuous gain in plant height, number of tillers and internodes. In the reproductive phase,dry matter in spikes increased and was higher than in stem and leaves at harvest. Biomassaccumulation and grain yield were highest in sprouted seeds due to the early initiation ofdevelopment, better establishment of seedlings and more tillers. IAA and KCl gave more drymatter and grain yield than water soaking. This is probably because IAA increases the physi-ological activity of roots, resulting in more absorption of water, increased elasticity of cellwalls and a stronger root system (Nayyar et al. 1995), while KCl increases hydration ofcolloids, bound water and relative turgidity, and lowers water deficits (Misra and Dwivedi1980). Thus seed priming, especially sowing sprouted (pre-germinated) seed leads to fastergrowth and higher grain yield.

ReferencesChhipa BR and Lal P (1978) Effect of pre-soaking of seeds with salt and hormone solutions and different quality

waters on wheat. Journal of Indian Society of Soil Science 26: 390–396.Kahlon PS, Dhaliwal HS, Sharma SK and Randhawa AS (1992) Effect of pre-sowing seed soaking on yield of wheat

(Triticum aestivum) under late-sown irrigated condition. Indian Journal of Agricultural Science 62: 276–77.Misra NM and Dwivedi DP (1980) Effect of pre-sowing seed treatments on growth and dry-matter accumulation of

high yielding wheat under rainfed conditions. Indian Journal of Agronomy 25: 230–234.Nayyar H, Wallia DP and Kaistha BL (1995) Performance of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) seed primed with

growth regulators and inorganic salts. Indian Journal of Agricultural Sciences 65: 112–116.

Seed priming for wheat growth 11



Tabl

e 2.E

ffect

of s

eed

prim

ing

on b

iom

ass a

ccum

ulat

ion

(g p

er ru

nnin

g m

etre

) in

1998

-99

30 D

AS

60 D

AS

90 D

AS

At h

arve

st

Leaf

Stem

Tota

lLe

afSt

emTo

tal

Leaf

Stem

Sp

ike

Tota

lLe

afSt

emSp

ike

Tota

l

Var

ietie

s

Sona

k5.

011.

646.

6543

.941

.485

.351

.310

2.7

57.9

211.

927

.511

6.4

141.

428

5.3

UP

2338

4.80

1.56

6.36

42.3

38.3

80.6

61.0

96.6

55.9

213.

529

.911

8.5

148.

729

7.1

Raj 3

765

4.87

1.59

6.46

39.9

37.4

77.3

60.0

91.6

59.5

211.

129

.711

7.0

148.

429

5.1

PBW

343

4.67

1.53

6.20

35.9

33.0

68.9

57.0

93.6

53.0

203.

627

.911

1.6

139.

527

9.0

s.e. m

±0.

030.

010.

040.

30.

40.

90.

30.

40.

30.

40.

10.

30.

30.

8CD

at 5

%0.

090.

040.

141.

21.

43.

21.

2

1.4

1.1

1.2

1.4

0.9

1.0

2.6

Seed

prim

ing

Wat

er4.

911.

606.

5140

.737

.978

.657

.396

.555

.920

9.7

28.5

115.

214

4.4

288.

1Sp

rout

ed5.

221.

736.

9546

.141

.587

.661

.910

4.1

63.5

229.

530

.312

0.8

151.

530

2.6

KCl

4.91

1.61

6.52

40.9

38.3

79.2

58.2

97.2

57.0

212.

429

.311

8.1

147.

129

4.5

ZnSO

44.

851.

586.

4339

.236

.675

.855

.993

.455

.220

4.5

28.5

115.

314

3.5

287.

3N

a 2SO

44.

771.

566.

3338

.836

.475

.255

.493

.654

.420

3.4

28.1

115.

414

3.0

286.

5IA

A5.

011.

646.

6542

.338

.480

.759

.298

.458

.321

5.9

29.3

117.

814

6.7

293.

8Co

ntro

l4.

181.

345.

5235

.533

.669

.153

.689

.951

.619

5.1

27.1

108.

713

5.5

271.

3s.e

. m±

0.04

0.02

0.07

0.

40.

51.

0 0.

4

0.6

0.5

1.3

0.1

0.

40.

41.

3CD

at 5

%0.

120.

06

0.20

1.2

1.5

2.9

1.1

1.6

1.4

3.8

0.4

1.1

1.2

3.8



Tabl

e 3.E

ffect

of s

eed

prim

ing

on b

iom

ass a

ccum

ulat

ion

(g p

er ru

nnin

g m

etre

) 199

9–20

00

30 D

AS

60 D

AS

90 D

AS

At h

arve

st

Leaf

Stem

Tota

lLe

afSt

emTo

tal

Leaf

Stem

Sp

ike

Tota

lLe

afSt

emSp

ike

Tota

l

Var

ietie

s

Sona

k5.

421.

727.

1446

.943

.990

.854

.310

3.7

59.8

217.

828

.611

8.5

144.

429

1.5

UP

2338

5.52

1.75

7.27

48.0

42.8

90.8

65.0

100.

653

.121

8.1

30.8

121.

515

1.2

303.

5Ra

j 376

55.

601.

787.

3846

.342

.388

.664

.898

.656

.922

0.9

30.7

121.

015

1.6

303.

3PB

W 3

435.

371.

727.

0947

.141

.488

.565

.010

3.6

52.4

221.

030

.912

3.5

155.

430

9.8

s.e. m

±0.

050.

020.

060.

50.

61.

20.

3

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.1

0.3

0.4

0.6

CD a

t 5%

N

SN

SN

SN

SN

SN

S1.

1

0.6

1.0

NS

0.3

0.8

1.1

2.2

Seed

prim

ing

Wat

er5.

521.

767.

2847

.242

.990

.162

.010

1.6

54.8

218.

430

.012

0.7

150.

530

1.2

Spro

uted

5.85

1.89

7.74

52.7

46.4

99.1

66.6

109.

261

.923

7.7

31.7

125.

715

7.1

314.

5K

Cl5.

581.

787.

3647

.843

.491

.263

.310

2.9

56.3

222.

530

.812

3.3

153.

230

7.3

ZnSO

45.

481.

747.

2245

.841

.887

.661

.199

.654

.321

5.0

29.9

120.

514

9.7

300.

1N

a 2SO

45.

411.

727.

1345

.341

.486

.760

.599

.053

.621

3.1

29.6

120.

414

9.1

299.

0IA

A5.

641.

807.

4448

.843

.592

.364

.210

4.6

58.0

226.

830

.812

3.3

153.

130

7.2

Cont

rol

4.75

1.51

6.26

42.2

38.8

81.0

58.8

95.5

51.0

205.

328

.611

4.2

142.

328

5.1

s.e. m

±0.

030.

020.

040.

40.

40.

90.

30.

40.

40.

8

0.1

0.3

0.4

1.2

CD a

t 5%

0.10

0.06

0.

121.

01.

12.

50.

91.

21.

12.

40.

40.

91.

23.

6



Tabl

e 4. E

ffect

of s

eed

prim

ing

on d

ays t

aken

to p

heno

logi

cal d

evel

opm

ent

1998

–99

1999

–200

0

Tille

ring

Join

ting

Hea

ding

Flow

erin

gM

ilkin

gPh

ysio

logi

cal

Tille

ring

Join

ting

Hea

ding

Flow

erin

gM

ilkin

gPh

ysio

logi

cal

mat

urity

mat

urity

Var

ietie

s

Sona

k32

.156

.166

.076

.795

.912

1.0

30.4

57.1

71.4

83.5

102.

212

3.0

UP

2338

31.8

59.5

78.7

89.0

104.

912

6.0

30.2

63.2

84.4

94.6

112.

213

1.0

Raj 3

765

29.4

57.5

71.1

82.1

102.

812

4.0

28.7

59.4

77.4

90.1

109.

312

9.0

PBW

343

33.7

61.8

79.9

91.0

105.

912

3.0

32.2

64.4

84.9

96.2

112.

213

0.0

s.e. m

±0.

20.

30.

30.

40.

1–

0.1

0.2

0.2

0.4

0.1

–CD

at 5

%

0.7

0.9

1.1

1.4

0.3

NS

0.4

0.7

0.8

1.4

0.3

NS

Seed

prim

ing

Wat

er31

.858

.673

.884

.610

2.2

123.

530

.361

.079

.591

.310

9.1

128.

3Sp

rout

ed29

.756

.772

.182

.910

1.5

123.

528

.459

.077

.689

.310

8.1

128.

3K

Cl31

.458

.973

.784

.510

2.2

123.

530

.261

.179

.290

.810

8.8

128.

3Zn

SO4

31.4

59.0

74.2

84.7

102.

412

3.5

30.3

61.3

79.8

91.3

109.

112

8.3

Na 2S

O4

32.7

59.2

74.3

85.3

102.

512

3.5

31.1

61.3

80.0

91.7

109.

212

8.3

IAA

31.0

58.2

73.4

84.3

102.

212

3.5

29.6

60.5

78.9

90.6

108.

812

8.3

Cont

rol

34.2

60.5

76.2

86.8

103.

512

3.5

32.9

62.9

81.8

92.9

110.

112

8.3

s.e. m

±0.

10.

20.

10.

20.

1–

0.1

0.2

0.1

0.2

0.1

–CD

at 5

%0.

30.

50.

30.

40.

3N

S0.

30.

50.

40.

50.

3N

S


Ortizmonasterio JI, Dhillon SS and Fischer RA (1994) Date of sowing effects on grain yield and yield componentsof irrigated spring wheat cultivars and relationships with radiation and temperature in Ludhiana, India. FieldCrop Research 37, 169–184.

Panse VG and Sukhatme PV (1995) Statistical methods for agricultural research workers, 3rd edn. New Delhi:ICAR.

Peterson RF (1965) The wheat plant and its morphological development. In: Wheat -botany, cultivation andutilization. New York: Inter Science.

Singh SP and Singh HB (1991) Productivity of late-sown wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) as influenced by seedcondition and varieties. Indian Journal of Agronomy, 36: 38–40.


Table 5. Effect of seed priming on grain and biological yield (kg/ha)

1998–99 1999–2000

Grain Biological Grain Biologicalyield yield yield yield

Varieties

Sonak 4250 10 390 4280 10 770UP 2338 4296 10 750 4420 11 140Raj 3765 4443 10 700 4464 12 240PBW 343 4162 9980 4547 11 410s.e. m± 20 55 24 49 CD at 5 % NS 189 81 170

Seed priming

Water 4307 10 500 4401 11 020Sprouted 4697 11 360 4796 12 030KCl 4365 10 620 4470 11 220ZnSO4 4187 10 320 4389 10 980Na2SO4 4123 10 100 4330 10 860IAA 4476 10 920 4559 11 390Control 3858 9381 4048 10 460s.e. m± 65 156 47 67CD at 5 % 187 446 135 188


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Effect of seed priming on growth and phenology of wheat under late-sown conditions