Effect of seed priming using potassium dihydrogen phosphate on seedlings emergence, growth and yield of Bambara groundnut (<i>Vigna subterranea</i> (L) Verdc.)

Bambara groundnut takes a very long period to emerge from the soil, this negatively affect plant establishment and final yield; meanwhile, priming has helped reduced time to seedling emergence in several crops. Thus, a field experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm, University of Ilorin, Nigeria, during the 2019 cropping season to evaluate the effect of priming using potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4) on emergence, growth, and yield of Bambara groundnut. There were two factors; concentration (0, 100 and 200 ppm of KH2PO4) and duration (0, 6, and 12 hours) laid out in a 3 x 3 factorial arrangement fitted into a randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated three times. Data were collected on days to 50% seedling emergence, growth parameters (petiole length, number of leaves, dry matter, leaf area, and leaf area index), and yield. Results showed that treatments improved emergence, growth, and yield of Bambara groundnut, with significant interaction effects. Using 200 ppm of KH2PO4 and soaking for 12 hours significantly fastened seedling emergence and growth parameters. Increasing the concentration of KH2PO4 showed no significant effect on yield, but increasing soaking duration significantly affected yield. Farmers are therefore encouraged to adopt priming of Bambara groundnut seeds for 12 hours using 200 ppm of KH2PO4 to hasten seedling emergence.