Enhancement of growth, flowering and seed yield through GA 3 seed priming in sunflower

Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is a globally significant oilseed crop, widely cultivated for its high-quality oil, rich in unsaturated fatty acids, and its dietary fiber content, both of which are recognized for their substantial contributions to human health and nutrition. In addition, being cultivated as a magnificent ornamental plant for both indoor and outdoor landscaping. In sunflower, there are issues with decreased seed germination, field emergence, seed vigor, and yield. Therefore, the present field experiment was conducted to study the effect of various GA 3 seed priming treatments on growth, flowering, and seed yield in sunflower carried out during 2020-22. The experiment comprised ten priming treatments, viz. 8 concentrations of GA 3 (25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200 ppm) and hydropriming, both for a duration of 12 hours along with an absolute control. The study revealed that seed priming with GA 3 @ 100 ppm for 12 hours resulted in maximum values for field emergence (88.94 %), plant height (131.27 cm), the diameter of capitulum (18.05 cm), number of total seeds per capitulum (584.83), number of filled seeds per capitulum (455.55), seed setting percentage (77.89 %), seed yield (29.95 g per plant, 363.91 g per plot and 1213.37 kg per hectare) and 100 seed weight (5.46 g), as well as minimum days to first flowering (47.50). Hence, it was concluded that to produce higher yield of quality seeds, the sunflower seeds be primed with GA 3 @ 100 ppm for 12 hours. The study will help the growers to optimize the seed yield, plant growth and flowering.