The present study was carried out to evaluate the impact of seed priming with plant growth regulators (PGRs) on different sowing methods of rice. Traditional rice cultivation involves raising nurseries and transplanting them into fields, but this is laborious and requires more water due to evapotranspirational losses and cultural operations like puddling. Direct-seeded rice (DSR) cultivation is easy and water-saving, but poor weed control and abiotic stresses like high temperatures and drought stress still result in low grain yields. To address these issues in DSR, recent research has focused on priming chemicals to improve rice germination and growth to improve yield. Rice germination and seedling growth are greatly affected by seed priming with PGRs. This work started with a laboratory experiment to screen different PGRs for field trials. The preliminary study results show that GA3-primed seeds had 100% germination percentage and 1260 seedling vigor index, while AsA-primed seedlings had 13.34% germination percentage and 58 seedling vigor indexes, respectively. SA priming had the highest germination index (2.92), followed by GA3 (2.76). The lowest germination index was 0.15 for IAA-primed seedlings. SA priming yielded the longest shoot (23.45 cm) and IAA priming was the shortest. The highest seedling fresh and dry weights were 3.19 g and 2.47 g from GA3-primed seeds. Field trials showed that priming and planting methods (direct-seeded and transplanted) affected growth, physiological, and yield factors. Transplanted rice outperformed DSR in all criteria. GA3-primed seeds outperformed other sub-plot treatments, followed by triacontanol and salicylic acid. Transplanted rice primed with GA3 had the highest leaf area index (7.05), crop growth rate (12.58 g m−2 day−1), net assimilation rate (4.49 g m−2 day−1), plant height (106.92 cm), and relative water content (68.31%). DSR without any seed priming yielded 3.49-t grains ha−1, and 4.47-t grains ha−1 by priming with GA3. Priming increased antioxidant defense system production of SOD, CAT, AsA, and TSP compared to the control. All observed differences among treatments were statistically analyzed using ANOVA, and significance was determined at p ≤ 0.05. Results are presented as means ± standard deviation, confirming that the improvements in growth and physiological traits were statistically significant. These findings demonstrate that seed priming with PGRs, particularly GA3, significantly enhanced germination (up to 100%), seedling Vigor (up to 1260), growth, physiological performance, and grain yield (up to 4.47 t ha−1) in both direct-seeded and transplanted rice systems at p ≤ 0.05.

Improving growth and physicobiochemical attributes of rice via PGR-based seed priming: a comparative study of establishment methods

期刊论文
发表日期：

2025年9月25日

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Yousaf Saeed,
Muhammad Aurangzaib,
Hossam S. El-Beltagi,
Khairiah Mubarak Alwutayd,
Ghulam Murtaza,
Lala Gurbanova,
Rashid Iqbal

摘要

The present study was carried out to evaluate the impact of seed priming with plant growth regulators (PGRs) on different sowing methods of rice. Traditional rice cultivation involves raising nurseries and transplanting them into fields, but this is laborious and requires more water due to evapotranspirational losses and cultural operations like puddling. Direct-seeded rice (DSR) cultivation is easy and water-saving, but poor weed control and abiotic stresses like high temperatures and drought stress still result in low grain yields. To address these issues in DSR, recent research has focused on priming chemicals to improve rice germination and growth to improve yield. Rice germination and seedling growth are greatly affected by seed priming with PGRs. This work started with a laboratory experiment to screen different PGRs for field trials. The preliminary study results show that GA₃-primed seeds had 100% germination percentage and 1260 seedling vigor index, while AsA-primed seedlings had 13.34% germination percentage and 58 seedling vigor indexes, respectively. SA priming had the highest germination index (2.92), followed by GA₃ (2.76). The lowest germination index was 0.15 for IAA-primed seedlings. SA priming yielded the longest shoot (23.45 cm) and IAA priming was the shortest. The highest seedling fresh and dry weights were 3.19 g and 2.47 g from GA₃-primed seeds. Field trials showed that priming and planting methods (direct-seeded and transplanted) affected growth, physiological, and yield factors. Transplanted rice outperformed DSR in all criteria. GA₃-primed seeds outperformed other sub-plot treatments, followed by triacontanol and salicylic acid. Transplanted rice primed with GA₃ had the highest leaf area index (7.05), crop growth rate (12.58 g m⁻² day⁻¹), net assimilation rate (4.49 g m⁻² day⁻¹), plant height (106.92 cm), and relative water content (68.31%). DSR without any seed priming yielded 3.49-t grains ha⁻¹, and 4.47-t grains ha⁻¹ by priming with GA₃. Priming increased antioxidant defense system production of SOD, CAT, AsA, and TSP compared to the control. All observed differences among treatments were statistically analyzed using ANOVA, and significance was determined at p ≤ 0.05. Results are presented as means ± standard deviation, confirming that the improvements in growth and physiological traits were statistically significant. These findings demonstrate that seed priming with PGRs, particularly GA₃, significantly enhanced germination (up to 100%), seedling Vigor (up to 1260), growth, physiological performance, and grain yield (up to 4.47 t ha⁻¹) in both direct-seeded and transplanted rice systems at p ≤ 0.05.