Seed priming with polyethylene glycol improved drought tolerance of late sown wheat by enhanced gas exchange attributes

Y. Bani Khalaf, A. Aldahadha*, O. Migdadi and A. Alkaabnh

Department of Field Crops, National Agricultural Research Center (NARC),
PO Box 639, Baqa'a 19381, Jordan
*Correspondence: abdallah.aldahadha@narc.gov.jo

Abstract:

Late sowing, especially in regions prone to drought, significantly hampers crop growth and yield. To address this, field experiments were conducted during the winter of 2021–2022 at Maru and Mushaqar in Jordan to evaluate the effects of seed priming agents as seed priming with water (hydropriming), polyethylene glycol (osmopriming), calcium chloride (osmopriming), and a control (unprimed) on physiological, phenological and yield traits of durum wheat (umqais variety) under normal and late sowing conditions. Results showed that Maru exhibited superior performance in physiology, growth, and yield attributes compared to Mushaqar. While late sown wheat demonstrated better water use efficiency, normal sowing conditions generally favored other yield components. Seed priming by polyethylene glycol (PEG) improved relative water content, stomatal conductance, and grain yield compared to other treatments. Mushaqar recorded higher grain spike^-1 and spike m^-2 under normal sowing, while PEG-primed seeds produced significantly higher 1,000-grain weight and harvest index. Notably, PEG-primed seeds improved grain yield and 1,000-grain weight, suggesting enhanced drought resilience under late sowing conditions. The study concludes that seed priming, especially with PEG, effectively improves drought tolerance in late sown wheat by enhancing photosynthetic activity, chlorophyll content (SPAD), and water retention. The findings indicate that PEG seed priming can effectively mitigate the negative impacts of late sowing, supporting its use as a practical strategy for improving wheat performance in semi-arid environments.

Key words:

intrinsic water use efficiency, Osmopriming, Sowing date, stomatal conductance, yield components

Seed priming improves seedling emergence time, root characteristics and yield of canola in the conditions of late sowing

Sh. Nazari¹*, M.A. Aboutalebian¹ and F. Golzardi²

¹Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Bu-Ali Sina, Hamedan
²Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Karaj, Iran
*Correspondence: shahram_nazari1986@yahoo.com

Abstract:

In central zones of Iran, late sowing of canola is the major reason of low yield. This yield reduction is principally due to poor crop establishment and root development dynamics because of low temperature prevailing. The present study was conducted to explore the possibility of improving late sown canola performance by seed priming techniques. A field experiment was conducted using five sowing dates (SD) at 10-day intervals from 5-September to 15-October during 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 seasons, three canola cultivars (Okpai, Zarfam and Talayeh) and seed priming strategies were: hydropriming and osmopriming with ZnSO4 for 10 h. Results showed that minimum time to incipient emergence (T0) and time to 50% emergence (T50) was recorded from osmopriming of the optimal SD (5-Sep) by Okapi, Talayeh and Zarfam cultivars, respectively. The maximum root length (RL) was on the 5-Sep, so at that this date under the osmopriming and hydropriming, RL increased by 82 and 61 percent in Okapi, 47 and 43 percent in Zarfam and 58 and 44 percent in Talayeh in both growth seasons compared to control, respectively. Also, maximum root diameter (RD), root surface area density (RSAD) and grain yield (GY) was recorded in Okapi, Zarfam and Talayeh cultivars on the 5-Sep under hydropriming and osmopriming, respectively. Delay sowing significantly affected root dry weight (RDW) and root volume (RV). Maximums of RDW and RV at both seasons were recorded from osmopriming on 5-Sep in Okapi cultivar followed by hydropriming.

Key words: