Abstract:
Low seed germination and
seedling emergence is one of the main
problems in saline areas. Seed priming
technique has been known as a challenge to
improve germination and seedling
emergence under different environmental
stresses. The objective of this research was
to evaluate the effect of seed priming with
NaCl and water on growth and seed reserve
utilization of millet seeds under salinity
stress. Treatments were combinations of
four levels of salinity stress (0, -4, -8 and -
12 bar) and three levels of seed priming and
control with three replicates. Results
showed that with increase in salinity stress,
germination components such as
germination percentage, germination index,
mean time to germination, normal seedling
percentage, seedling length, seedling dry
weight of utilized (mobilized) seed and seed
reserve utilization efficiency decreased, but
seed priming showed lower reduction. The
highest germination characteristics and seed
reserve utilization was obtained by halopriming
in control conditions. It is
concluded that priming results in
improvement in germination components of
millet in salinity stress conditions.
