M. ROKNUZZAMAN1*, M. M. HAQUE2 and A. HAMID3
1Senior Scientific Officer, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture, Mymensingh-2202, 2&3Department of Agronomy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh.
*Corresponding author’s Email: rokon003@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
The study was conducted at the Laboratory, Department of Agronomy, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Gazipur, Bangladesh during 2008. Seed invigoration, that is, priming techniques are employed to reduce the duration of germination, to synchronize germination and to improve field emergence rate. Seed priming may be a pragmatic strategy to enhance seed vigor which influences field stand of direct seeded aus rice. Four aus rice varieties (two local viz. Hanuman Jata and Bat Tulshi and two modern viz. BRRI dhan42 and BRRI dhan43) used in this study. Seed priming treatments were: (a) seed priming with water for 1 day, (b) priming with 1.5% KCl for 2 days, (c) priming with 1.5% KNO3 for 1 day, (d) priming with 1.0% CaCl2 for 2 days, (c) priming with 1.0% NH4NO3 for 2 days, while (f) controls seeds receiving no prior treatment. There were little varietal differences in response to priming treatments during seed invigoration. Irrespective of varieties, seed priming with 1.0% CaCl2 and 1.5% KCl for 2 days performed better in seed invigoration than all other treatments. During seed priming, increased α- amylase activity hydrolyzed more starch and made more soluble sugars available and helped to promote quickly germinate of aus rice.
Keywords: Seed quality, α-amylase activity and Germination indices.