Effects of salt priming on seedling vigor and field establishment of aged winter wheat seeds

Abstract

A sub-sample of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Zarin) seeds was kept as high vigor seed lot and two other sub-samples were aged at 40°C for 7 and 9 days. Then, each seed lot was divided into three sub-samples, one of which was kept as control (non-primed) and two other samples were soaked in 1% KNO3 and KH2PO4 solutions for 8 hours at 20±1oC. Laboratory and field studies were arranged as factorial based on CR and RCB designs, respectively. Mean germination rate and percentage, seedling dry weight and length and field emergence rate significantly decreased with increasing seed ageing. All these traits, except germination percentage, were significantly improved by salt priming of seeds. Salt priming of both aged and non-aged seeds also enhanced seedling emergence percentage in the field. In most cases, no significant differences between KNO3 and KH2PO4 priming were found. Therefore, both priming techniques can improve seedling vigor and field establishment of winter wheat.