Identifying the most effective seed priming technique to enhance the establishment (Astragalus squarrosus Bunge)

Souri, Mahshid; Bayat, MIna; Nateghi, Saeedeh

doi:10.22092/ijrdr.2025.133604

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Assistant Professor, , Rangeland Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, AREEO, Tehran, Iran

² Research Expert, Rangeland Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, AREEO, Tehran, Iran

³ Assistant Professor, Rangeland Research Division, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, AREEO, Tehran, Iran

10.22092/ijrdr.2025.133604

Abstract

Background and objectives:
Poor establishment of seeds, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, reduces the performance of rangeland plants, increasing the speed of germination and establishment of seedlings can cause them to absorb water and nutrients more quickly. The priming treatment shortens the planting time until greening, protects the seeds and greens uniformly, which ultimately leads to uniform establishment and improved yield in the product. The aim of this research is to introduce the most effective priming on germination, height, yield, root and stem weight of Astragalus squarrosus Bunge species.
Methodology:
In this research, the effect of hydropriming, osmopriming and hormone priming on factors of germination, height, yield, root and stem weight of Astragalus squarrosus Bunge was investigated. The seeds of three ecotypes of Yazd, Semnan and Kashan were primed separately under hydropriming (distilled water), hormone priming (gibberellic acid 500 ppm) and osmopriming polyethylene glycol 6000 at two levels (-0.4 and -0.8 MPa). The statistical analysis of experiment was carried out in SPSS software at the form of a factorial design by applying two factors (priming treatment and drought stress treatment) on the collected seeds of three populations from three regions, Astragalus squarrosus Bunge species in the greenhouse.
Results:
Examining the results showed the significance of the priming effect on the indices of germination percentage, yield, height, root and stem weight of Astragalus squarrosus Bunge at the error level of 1%. The investigated characteristics of the seeds that were exposed to different types of priming were significantly different from each other compared to the control seeds. According to the results, the highest plant height (40 cm) and fodder yield (42 g/m²), germination percentage (38.7 percent), root weight (37 g) and stem weight (42.8 g) in ecotype Yazd using hydropriming treatment and under drought stress has reached 75% of the farm capacity, the second place was observed in osmopriming (polyethylene glycol) treatment. The results of this research showed that the best performance and result for planting Astragalus squarrosus Bunge in the direction of reviving degraded dry rangelands is hydropriming (distilled water) along with seed scraping.
Conclusion:
Based on the results obtained from this research and also, considering the fact that hydropriming is much cheaper and simpler than osmopriming and hormone priming, therefore, hydropriming is introduced as a treatment to improve the performance of nether species. This issue can be taken into the attention of rangeland operators and experts in improving the function and performance of this type of valuable local fodder.

Keywords

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Identifying the most effective seed priming technique to enhance the establishment (Astragalus squarrosus Bunge)

References

References

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript Available Online from 11 May 2025

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 11 May 2025