Effects of Priming with Copper, Zinc and Phosphorus on Seed and Seedling Composition in Wheat and Barley

English (OpenAlex)

Priming the seeds with plant nutrients containing solutions is economically feasible and easy way of preventing plants from future nutrient deficiency problems by enriching seed nutrition content; therefore, it has been commonly used in the last decades. Seeds of barley (Hordeum vulgare L., Tokak 157/57) and common wheat (Triticum aestivum L., Esperia) were kept in priming solutions containing phosphorus (P), copper sulphate (Cu) and zinc sulphate (Zn) in different concentrations for 10 h and washed in pure water then dried back to the initial moisture content. The chemical compositions of seeds were analysed and then the efficiency tests of priming practices were conducted in completely randomised design pot experiment with three replications. There were priming-induced increases in seeds up to 10.5, 13.4 and 1.61 fold for Cu, Zn and P respectively. The treatments resulted in an increase in the 50% emergence time. Phosphorus treatment (3%) reduced the germination rate by 33% comparing with the control. Seedling nutrient concentrations on the subject were positively responded to nutri-priming treatments. Therefore, these priming techniques could be used to improve seedling’s nutrient contents to better perform in the preceding growth stages.