Influence of Priming Treatments on Growth and Yield of Rice Under Different Irrigation Regimes

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of priming
treatments on growth and yield of rice under different irrigation
regimes. In this work, six priming treatments(48-hour priming with
100 mM calcium chloride dihydrate, 24-hour priming with 100 mM
calcium chloride dihydrate, 48-hour priming with 40% (w/v) polyethyl
glycol(PEG) 6000, 24-hour priming with 40% (w/v) polyethyl glycol
(PEG) 6000, 24-hour priming with 100 ppm kinetin and 48-hour
priming with 100 ppm kinetin) were tested under two irrigation
regimes (normal and water stress conditions). The experiment was
laid out in split-plot design with three replications. The main plot
consisted of the irrigation regimes while the sub-plot comprised the
priming treatments. Plants were assessed using number of tillers,
number of productive tillers, rate of photosynthesis, stomatal
conductance, intercellular carbon dioxide, transpiration rate, shoot
fresh mass, shoot dry mass, 100-grain mass, grain yield, harvest
index, grain length, grain width and grain size. The results showed
that 48-hour priming with 100 mM calcium chloride dihydrate was
33.74% better than 24-hour priming with 100 mM calcium chloride
dihydrate, 48-hour priming with 40% (w/v) polyethyl glycol PEG)
6000 was 26.86% better than 24-hour priming with 40% (w/v)
polyethyl glycol PEG) 6000and 24-hour priming with 100 ppm kinetin
was 23.69% better than 48-hour priming with 100 ppm kinetin in yield
production in both irrigation regimes. Therefore, it is recommended
that, subject to further research, rice seed priming with 100mM
calcium chloride and 40% (w/v) PEG6000 should not exceed 48hours
while priming with 100ppm kinetin should not exceed 24hours for
effectiveness and avoidance of resource wastage.