Effect of seed priming on harvest index, grain yield and it’s components in three dryland wheat cultivars

To investigate the effect of seed priming treatments on grain yield and it’s components in three bread wheat cultivars (“Rijaw”, “Sardari” and “Karim”), two years field experiment were conducted at the Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center (Kermanshah) in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. Seed priming treatments included, gibberellic acid 100 mg L-1, 24-epiprasinolide 1 mg L-1, potassium chloride 100 mmol L-1 and polyethylene glycol (PEG4000) (-2.3 and -2.9 bar), aqueous zinc sulfate 0.1 and 0.3% by weight-volume, 2 and 4 g urea L-1, ascorbic acid 100 mg L-1, one surface of hydropriming with distilled water and a control treatment. The results showed that the highest grain yield was obtained from “Rijaw” and 4 g L-1 urea (2801.4 kg ha-1). The highest biological yield was related to the Sardari and 4 g urea L-1 treatment (8206.7 kg ha-1). The maximum 1000-seed weight (39.5 g) was obtained from Sardari and 0.3% (w/v) zinc sulfate. There was a positive and significant correlation between grain yield and 0.3% hydrated zinc sulfate, 4 g L-1 urea and 100 mmol L-1 potassium chloride, 100 mg L-1 ascorbic acid and 2 g L-1 urea, respectively. In this study, based on the results of grain yield and its components, treatments of 4 g urea L-1, zinc sulfate 0.3%, ascorbic acid 100 mg L-1 and potassium chloride of 100 mmol L-1 were recommended as appropriate seed priming treatments for similar dryland conidtions.