Effect of Seed Priming Treatments on Germination and Seed Quality Parameters of Field Pea (Pisum sativum L.)

Abstract

Seed priming is used to improve the speed, uniformity, and physiological performance of germinating seeds, but responses can depend on the priming agent and genotype. This study evaluated two field-pea varieties (KPMR-522 and Rachana) under six seed-treatment levels: control, hydropriming, KNO₃ at 3%, GA₃ at 0.01%, NAA at 0.01%, and Panchagavya at 5% during the 2023-24 and 2024-25 rabi seasons. The treatment structure was factorial (two varieties × six treatments), and germination-based laboratory observations were made with four replications of 100 seeds per treatment combination. Across the pooled data, Panchagavya at 5% recorded the highest 100-seed weight (21.14 g), first-count germination (72.08%), final germination (94.74%), speed of germination (35.80), peak value (17.76), mean daily germination (11.84), and germination value (210.27). KNO₃ at 3% was closely comparable for final germination (94.59%) and mean daily germination (11.82), for which the differences from Panchagavya were smaller than the corresponding critical differences at 5%. NAA at 0.01% gave the lowest pooled values for most germination variables. The pooled relative growth index was also highest with Panchagavya (76.12), although the treatment ranking differed between varieties, indicating a meaningful variety × treatment response for this index. Under the conditions of this study, Panchagavya at 5% and KNO₃ at 3% were the most consistently favourable treatments for germination performance, while the genotype-dependent responses indicate that broader recommendations should be validated across additional seed lots and environments.