R.J.G. Rosales and G.F.S. Pascua
Abstract
A study on hydropriming with different durations (4, 8, and 12 h) tested the seedling vigor of glutinous corn. Ambient conditions (temperature: 30 ± 2 ËC; relative humidity - 65 ± 5%) were used as the growing conditions for the hydro primed and unprimed seeds (control). The treatments were arranged in a Completely Randomized Design in four replicates. Results show that longer hydropriming of 12 h exhibited a higher germination index (GI), germination speed, seedling vigor, and lower mean germination time (MGT). The longer the hydropriming, the faster the germination of corn seeds than unprimed and shorter durations of less than 12 h. There was an increasing trend of GI as the hydropriming duration increased. However, the seedling length of 12 h hydroprimed seeds was similar to 4 and 8 h, but they exhibited longer seedlings than unprimed seeds. Likewise, 8 and 12 h hydro primed seeds displayed a comparable seedling vigor index, but they were significantly higher than 4 h and unprimed seeds. Thus, it can be recommended that to improve the seedling vigor of corn seeds, 12 h of hydropriming is needed due to its significant enhancement on the parameters than the unprimed and shorter hydropriming durations.