Effect of priming treatments on emergence and yield of freshly produced and aged maize seeds sown at different depths

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether different priming treatments could affect emergence, speed of emergence and yield of freshly produced and aged maize seeds sown at different depths. Two lots of parental maize line A634 produced in the previous season were used as seed source, and twenty-year-old seed. After priming with distilled water and 0.5% KNO3 solution, the seed was sown at four depths. Results showed that freshly produced seeds did not benefit from priming treatments. Reaction of the aged seeds differed depending on the priming treatment. Results indicated that priming with KNO3 should be avoided in aged seeds of A634 because of its detrimental effect on the emergence and yield. Hydropriming induced higher percentage of emerged plants and faster emergence, but with no effect on yield. Reaction to priming treatments varied with sowing depth, which should not exceed 5.0 cm for parental line A634 according to this study.

Cilj ovog istraživanja je bio da se ispita da li različiti predtretmani mogu uticati na broj niklih biljaka, brzinu nicanja i prinos sveže proizvedenog i starijeg semena kukuruza, posejanog na različitim dubinama. U ispitivanju su korišćene dve partije linije kukuruza A634 proizvedene u prethodnoj sezoni i 20 godina starije seme. Za predtretman su korišćeni destilovana voda i 0,5% rastvor KNO3. Setva je izvršena na četiri različite dubine. Kod sveže proizvedenog semena nije bilo mnogo mesta za poboljšanje ispitivanih parametara primenom predtretmana. Reakcija starijeg semena je zavisila od vrste primenjenih tretmana. Rezultati pokazuju da kod linije A634 za predtretman starijeg semena treba izbegavati KNO3 zbog štetnog uticaja na broj niklih biljaka i prinos. Predtretman sa vodom nije imao uticaja na prinos, ali je povećao broj niklih biljaka i brzinu nicanja. Efekat predtretmana zavisio je i od dubine setve, koja za ovu liniju ne bi trebalo da bude veća od 5 cm.