Effect of Different Seed-priming Treatments on Growth, Nodulation and Yield of Green Gram (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek)

Green gram (Vigna radiata (L.) R. Wilczek) is an important pulse crop, but its productivity is often constrained by poor seedling establishment and unfavourable growing conditions. Seed priming is a simple pre-sowing technique that may improve germination, crop growth, nodulation and yield performance. A field experiment was conducted during the kharif season of 2025 at the Experimental-cum-Demonstration Field, SVIAg, SVVV, Indore, to assess the response of green gram (Vigna radiata) to different seed-priming treatments. The experimental soil was medium black clay, with available nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium contents of 240.54, 14.78 and 437.45 kg ha⁻¹, respectively. Soil organic carbon, pH and electrical conductivity were 0.50%, 7.35 and 0.70 dS m⁻¹, respectively. Nine treatments, comprising an untreated control and priming with distilled water, potassium nitrate, sodium chloride and calcium chloride, were evaluated in a randomised block design with three replications. Seeds were sown by dibbling at a spacing of 30 × 10 cm. Growth, nodulation, yield attributes and final yields were recorded. Priming with 1% KNO₃ for one hour (T5) produced the highest plant height (51.71 cm), number of leaves (33.15), number of branches (13.32), leaf area (12.68 dm²) and number of nodules (63.33 per plant). The same treatment recorded 31.12 pods per plant, 13.34 g seed yield per plant and the highest field seed yield (9.46 q ha⁻¹). Straw and biological yields were 21.19 and 30.65 q ha⁻¹, respectively, according to Table 3. Priming with 1% CaCl₂ for one hour produced statistically comparable responses for several growth and yield characteristics. These results suggest that potassium nitrate priming may improve green gram performance under the experimental conditions.