Effect of Priming Techniques on Seed Germination Characteristics of C. Maxima Duch

The present study was conducted to investigate the effect of seed priming techniques on germination characteristics of C. maxima Duch. cultivar (Beiguan). Treatments were combinations of 3 levels of priming (distilled water, NaCl and PEG6000) and non-priming (control) with 3 replications. Concentrations of NaCl solution were 50, 100, 150, 200 mmol•L-1, and polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 were 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, respectively. Seeds were primed using the above priming materials for 24 hours at 20°C in the dark, respectively. The results showed that different priming techniques could have various effects on germination of Beiguan seeds. Hydropriming (distilled water), NaCl priming and PEG6000 priming (10%) all improved the germination characteristics of Beiguan, compared to the control. NaCl priming was more effective than hydropriming and PEG6000 priming and was the most successful technique in this study. These findings indicated that seed priming techniques could accelerate germination process and were simple and cheap, we should propose these methods to farmers.