SEED PRIMING EFFECTS ON YIELD AND BIOCHEMICAL ATTRIBUTES OF CORN PLANTS UNDER SALINE WATER IRRIGATION

Introduction: Salinity is an important problem for plant production in arid and semi-arid regions.

Objectives: A plot experiment was conducted in a greenhouse to investigate the effect of seed priming with NaCl on the growth performance, plant chemical composition and yield of the newly selected single corn hybrid, namely, SC. 166 under different salinity levels.

Methodology: Primed and un-primed seeds were sown in plot experiments and irrigated with different salinity levels.

Results: The results revealed that the irrigation with saline water affected soil salinity. Similarly to stover and grain yields, cob yield of corn was significantly (p< 0.05) reduced by increasing levels of salinity. This reduction in yields was more important in un-primed seed when compared with primed seed exposed to different salinity levels. Salt index (SI) was exponentially dropped as the salt stress increased. However, the rate of decrement was more abundant at 2, and 4 g/l NaCl and reduced at the higher salt exposure 6 and 8 g/L NaCl. On average, the drop percentages of SI at the respective salinity level were 77.28, 70.42 and 63.00; compared with 51.75 at the higher level. The harvest index was significantly affected by salinity levels and seed priming, which ranged from 23.49 to 36.44 for treatments irrigated with saline water from 0 - 8 g/l NaCl, respectively.

Conclusion: The obtained results showed that plants derived from primed seeds produced more chlorophyll, potassium and proline, which indicate that these plants were more salt tolerant.

Recommendations: The primed seeds should be sown in saline media before cultivation to increase germination, early growth, and yield of corn seeds.