Effect of different seed priming techniques on germination and seedling vigor of summer maize in Chitwan, Nepal.

Summer maize is a popular grain crop however, its yield is lower in Nepal due to water stress, drought, and other unfavorable environmental conditions. In such cases, priming can be done to improve its germination and crop establishment. Germination and seedling vigor tests were done in the field and lab conditions using six treatments including priming by water, 1% KNO3, 1% common salt, 50 ppm GA3, 10g/kg Trichoderma and control in RCBD with 3 replications. Observations were taken up to 20 days from sowing on alternate days. Among all the treatments hormopriming shows the most desirable results for the studied parameters. It gives the best results with increased germination percent, germination index with lower mean and median germination time, and higher vigor index I and vigor index II in both field and lab conditions. The result indicates the need for seed priming in summer maize for better germination, early seedling establishment, and higher seedling vigor.夏玉米是尼泊尔广为种植的粮食作物，但受水分胁迫、干旱及其他不利环境因素影响，其产量偏低。在此类场景下，可通过种子引发（seed priming）技术提升其发芽率与作物建植能力。本研究在田间与实验室条件下开展发芽及幼苗活力试验，共设置6种处理方式，分别为清水引发、1%硝酸钾（KNO3）引发、1%食盐引发、50ppm赤霉素3（GA3）引发、10g/kg木霉菌（Trichoderma）引发以及对照组，采用随机完全区组设计（RCBD）并设置3次重复。自播种之日起至第20天，每隔一日开展一次观测。在所有处理方式中，激素引发（hormopriming）在本研究观测的各项参数上均表现出最优效果。该处理在田间与实验室条件下均能获得最优表现：可提升发芽率、提高发芽指数，同时缩短平均发芽时间与中位发芽时间，且能显著提高活力指数I与活力指数II。本研究结果表明，在夏玉米种植中采用种子引发技术，有助于提升发芽率、加快幼苗建植进程并提高幼苗活力。