Effect of seed priming on germination performance, biochemical attributes and yield of spinach

A study was conducted to investigate the impact of various seed priming methods on the germination, vigour, yield, and quality parameters of spinach under both laboratory and field conditions. The treatments used for germination and vigour test were: control (no treatment), coconut water (50%), CaCl2 (2%), KCl (1%), NaCl (3%), ZnSO4 (400 ppm), ascorbic acid (40 ppm), salicylic acid (50 ppm), PEG-6000 (20%), GA3 (25 ppm), GA3 (50 ppm), GA3 (100 ppm), distilled water, and hot water (50° C for 5 minutes. The result revealed that the maximum germination percentage (100%) was obtained by coconut water, CaCl2, salicylic Acid, and PEG-6000. For rate of germination, CaCl2 performed the best (25.08). In the case of the vigour index, ascorbic acid and GA3 (50 ppm) showed the best result, at 8.91. Among the 14 treatments, the best performing nine treatments (coconut water, KCl, ZnSO4, ascorbic acid, salicylic acid, PEG, GA3 (50 ppm), and distilled water) were selected for the field experiment based on germination % (90%), rate of germination (≥20) and vigor index (≥6). The results revealed that GA3 performed best in most parameters, including plant height, root length, number of leaves per plant, both shoot and root fresh and dry weight, leaf area, yield, ascorbic acid content, and titratable acidity, when grown under field conditions. However, CaCl2 yielded the best results in terms of photosynthetic pigments and total soluble solids. It can be concluded that GA3 (50 ppm) primed seeds produce more vigorous seedlings and a maximum yield of leaves under field conditions.