Evaluation of germination indices in Festuca spp. under chilling, osmo- and hormone priming

Introduction: Festuca species are forage grasses that are very important in terms of fodder supply and soil protection.The seeds of these plants have internal dormancy ( easily.Therefore, they must be subjected to various treatments to germinate.In nature, this dormancy is broken during the cold period of winter ( methods of dormancy breaking in Festuca species process.Materials and methods: In this research, three species of Festuca ( F. rubra) were subjected to different treatments of chilling (4 nitrate (KNO 3 ) 1.5% and gibberellic acid 150 and 200 ppm.After 14 days of germination test, various germination indices including percentage and rate of germination, length of radicle, shoot and seedling, andResults: The results of the analysis of variance showed a significant difference between species ( for germination percentage and root length traits) and treatments (for all traits).The species and treatment were also significant for all traits (except for Among the three species, the percentag germination rate varied from 1.92 to 3.31 n/d.The average time required for germination varied from 3.75 to 4.36 days and the seed vigor index varied from 26.74 to 43.02.The radicle length mm and the shoot length was between 37.34 and 81.33 mm.Based on principal components analysis (PCA), percentage and rate of germination, seed vigor index the most important factors in creating diversity in Festuca species.In determining the correlation between traits, a high correlation of 70% was observed between germination percentage, germination vigor index.Conclusion: Among the three species, the highest percentage and rate of germination, seed vigor, radical length germination.Among the applied treatments, 1.5% p had a positive effect on the percentage and rate of germination, radical length, and gibberellic acid (150 ppm) treatment had a positive effect on the length of shoot and seedling.The presence of high germination percentage and rate indicated higher seed vigor