Enhancing the Performance of Direct Seeded Fine Rice by Seed Priming

• DOI: 10.1626/pps.9.446
• Publication Date: 2006-10-25T05:45:15Z
• Authors: Muhammad Farooq; S. M. A. Basra; R. Tabassum; I. Afzal
• Keywords: Priming (agriculture); Panicle; Radicle

Higher water requirements and increasing labor costs are the major problems of traditional rice production system. Direct seeded culture, growing without standing water, can be an attractive alternate. However, poor emergence seedling establishment, weed infestation main hindrances in adoption this culture. An attempt to improve performance direct by seed priming was made present study. Priming tools employed were soaking (soaking tap up radicle protrusion), hydropriming for 48 h, osmohardening with KCl or CaCl2 (osmotic potential – 1.25 MPa) 24 vitamin (ascorbate 10 ppm) h hardening h. All techniques improved crop stand growth, yield quality except soaking, which resulted impaired germination establishment that ended reduced kernel lower harvest index than control. Early synchronized accompanied enhanced amylase activity total sugars. Osmohardening best performance, followed KCl. produced 2.96 t ha-1 (vs 2.11 from untreated control) yield, 10.13 9.35 straw 22.61% 18.91% index. Mean time heading days, percentage panicle bearing tillers; plant height 1000-kernel weight α-amylase sugars, proteins absorption correlated positively.