Chemical seed priming for enhancing the germination in soybean (Glycine max L.) under osmotic stress

Abiotic stress particularly drought, significantly hampers soybean productivity by affecting seed germination and early seedling development. Seed priming with chemical agents offers a potential strategy to enhance stress tolerance during germination. This study examines the effectiveness of chemical and hydropriming seed priming treatments in improving germination and stress tolerance in soybean (Glycine max L.) variety MAUS-158 under osmotic stress induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG-6000). The seed priming agents tested were calcium chloride (CaCl2), chitosan and mannitol. The optimal concentration of PEG-6000 for inducing osmotic stress was determined to be 15%, resulting in a 50% inhibition of germination. Priming durations and concentrations of selected chemicals were optimized based on germination percentage and seedling vigor. The 1% CaCl2 and 6% mannitol with 6 hour priming durations, and 0.2% chitosan with a 1 hour priming duration were found to be the most effective for enhancing the germination percentage from 70±5.7 to 80±5.7 under normal or osmotic stress conditions. Alone hydropriming for 6 hours duration also showed significant improvement in germination percentage under osmotic stress tolerance. The chemical seed priming unravelled that priming enhanced seed performance under both normal and osmotic stress condition.