Standardization of halo priming treatments to enhance seed quality in Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea)

Groundnut is a significant grain legume and oil seed crop around the world. The ultimate yield and quality of crops are significantly influenced by the uniformity and proportion of seedling emergence. Weaker seedlings arise from delayed emergence. These days, seed priming is frequently used to improve seed performance, namely to increase germination rate and uniformity of establishment. Therefore, research on priming methods is necessary to raise seedling germination rates and quality. The experiments were carried out to standardize various seed priming treatments with chemicals to enhance seed quality in groundnut. Groundnut seeds were soaked for 4, 6 and 8 hrs with chemical priming agents viz., calcium chloride, ammonium molybdate and zinc sulphate at the concentration of 1, 2 and 3% along with hydropriming and control. The results revealed that the seed to solution ratio of 1:1 soaked for 6 hrs recorded the maximum seed quality characters. Irrespective of soaking duration, seeds primed with calcium chloride @ 1% recorded the maximum seed quality attributes followed by 2% calcium chloride outperformed other treatments by recording higher imbibition rate, germination percentage, longest seedling length, maximum dry matter production and vigour index of groundnut.