Vol. 11, Issue 7 (2022)

Author(s):
P Jayasankaran, R Vigneshwari, J Renugadevi and N Sritharan

Abstract:
Seed germination and seedling growth are adversely affected by salinity. Seed priming is a low-cost and feasible technology to enhance seed germination and seedling vigour under stress conditions. Pyroligneous acid (PA) is a bio-stimulant, rich in bioactive components which improves crop growth and tolerance under salinity condition. The effect of seed priming treatments at various concentrations of PA (1:200, 1:300, 1:400, 1:500, and 1:600) on seed germination and seedling growth parameters of greengram under saline (100mM NaCl) stressed growing media were investigated. Severe reduction in germination percentage of greengram seeds was observed in non-primed seeds grown under saline stress condition (T₂ - 41%) when compared to control (T₁ - 89%). Among these treatments, seeds primed with PA at 1:500 dilution recorded higher germination percentage (64%), root length (17 cm), shoot length (13.92 cm), seedling dry weight (0.179 mg 10 seedling^-1) and Vigour Index (VI-I 2133 and VI-II 12.32) when compared to control under saline stress conditions. The results clearly indicated the effect of seed priming treatments in alleviating the negative effect of saline stress in germinating seedlings.