Seed germination is a critical determinant of crop stand establishment and yield potential. However, germination and early seedling growth are highly sensitive to environmental stressors such as salinity, drought, and temperature extremes, often resulting in poor field emergence and uneven crop stands. In addition to abiotic stresses, intrinsic constraints including seed dormancy and low vigor further limit germination success. To overcome these challenges, a range of seed germination enhancement technologies, such as seed priming, coating, pelleting, and encrusting, have been developed to accelerate germination and improve early seedling establishment. Seed priming enhances physiological readiness, whereas coating, pelleting, and encrusting provide physical protection and enable targeted delivery of nutrients, bioactive compounds, and beneficial microorganisms at the seed-soil interface. Recent research increasingly highlights the integration of multiple seed enhancement strategies, which can generate synergistic improvements in germination performance, seedling vigor, and stress tolerance through coordinated regulation of antioxidant defense systems, photosynthetic machinery, hormonal signaling, and stress-responsive gene expression. Despite notable advances, comparative and integrative assessments of these technologies and their combined effects remain fragmented across the literature. Therefore, this review provides a comprehensive synthesis of the physiological and molecular mechanisms underlying seed germination enhancement, with a critical comparison of conventional and emerging seed technologies. It further identifies key research gaps, technological challenges, and future directions for optimizing integrated seed enhancement strategies to achieve resilient, uniform, and sustainable crop establishment under stress-prone environments.
Mohammad Saidur Rhaman (Sun,) studied this question.