The effect of seed priming in germination of lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) genotypes

Abstract

Optimal germination and plant establishment is an important problem for agricultural productivity in arid and semi-arid areas. Priming is an approach for increasing plant establishment in undesirable conditions. This research was conducted in a laboratory at the College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Two lentil genotypes (MLC198, MLC4), two osmoticum as priming agents (PEG, NaCl) and three osmotic potential for each osmoticom (-4, -8 and -12 bars) were used in this study. Germination test was conducted in two conditions (water stress and non water stress). The result showed that PEG was more effective than NaCl for lentil seed priming. Within the applied osmotic potentials, -8 bar of PEG and -4 bar of NaCl were the best in promoting seed germination. MLC4 showed better response to priming compared with MLC198 genotype. Under non water stress conditions, different parameters of germination were in state of affairs