Seed priming effect on field emergence and grain yield in sorghum

Sa？etak Most cultivars of sorghum have low field emergence as common problem. Three experiments were carried out at Agriculture College, Baghdad University. First experiment was conducted in laboratory according to Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with four replicates. Second and third experiments were conducted at field according to Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) during the spring and the fall seasons of 2015, respectively, with four replicates for each one. Same two factors were studied at each experiment. First factor was seed priming by seed soaking for 10 hours in distilled water, solvents of GA3, KCl and thiamine (300, 40 and 30 mg*L-1, respectively) and non-primed seed. Second factor was three cultivars of sorghum (Inqath, Kafier and Rabeh). The aim was to improve field emergence and grain yield of sorghum under wide range of environmental conditions by using seed priming. Data were analyzed at P.0.05. The results showed significant effects of seed priming, cultivars of sorghum and their interaction on most traits under this study. A significant superiority of interaction was found between thiamine and Rabeh on length of plumule and dry weight of seedling at laboratory experiment. A significant superiority of interaction was found between thiamine and Rabeh on percentage of field emergence and total grain yield during spring season. A significant superiority of interaction was found between KCl and Inqath on percentage of field emergence and total grain yield during fall season. It can be concluded that technique of seed priming is effective to improve field emergence and grain yield of sorghum under wide range of environmental conditions