Seed Priming Interventions for Enhancing Stress Resilience and Productivity in Redgram (Cajanus cajan L.)
Résumé
Seed priming is a low-cost technique to improve germination and plant establishment under stress conditions. The present study evaluated hydropriming and halopriming methods on redgram varieties PRG 176 and TDRG-4 under moisture and salt stress respectively. Laboratory and field analyses demonstrated that halopriming resulted in the highest germination percentage, vigour indices, plant stand establishment, and yield traits in both varieties. Hydropriming also showed improvements close to halopriming under stress conditions with respect to final germination percentage and yield per hectare. Benefit-cost ratio was highest for halopriming followed closely by hydropriming. These results suggest that halopriming is highly effective for redgram under saline stress, while hydropriming remains a simple and feasible option for moisture stress environments for enhancing germination & seed vigour through osmotic adjustment.