Effect of Different Seed Priming Methods on Plant Performance of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Crop

The present research was carried out at the agriculture research farm and laboratories of Department of Seed Science & Technology, SKD University, Rajasthan to evaluate the effect of seed priming treatment on seed yield, quality and its storability in wheat (Triticum astivum). The material comprised of a variety "HD-2851" which was grown in the research farm of Department of Seed Science & Technology with twelve treatment combinations of inorganic salt and PGR. Among the priming treatments, Halopriming-Soaking in KNO3 (@0.3%) solution recommended dose of nitrogen exhibited better performance in terms of growth and yield attributes as compared to control. The results revealed that seed priming significantly influenced all the observed parameters. Among the treatments, halo-priming with KNO₃ @ 0.3% (T₉) proved most effective, recording the earliest 50% flowering (58 days) compared to the control (87.67 days). The same treatment also resulted in maximum plant height (95.24 cm), spike length (10.77 cm), number of tillers per plant (9.07), spikes per plant (8.75), and seeds per spike (21.57). Consequently, the highest seed yield per plant (11.17 g) was obtained under KNO₃ priming, while the untreated control produced the lowest yield (8.83 g). Other treatments such as ZnSO₄ and CaSO₄ priming also showed significant improvement over the control but were inferior to KNO₃ priming. The enhanced performance under seed priming may be attributed to improved metabolic activity, nutrient availability, early seedling vigor, and efficient assimilate translocation. Overall, halo-priming with KNO₃ @ 0.3% is a simple and effective technique to enhance wheat productivity.