211 © Springer India 2016 D.P. Singh et al. (eds.), Microbial Inoculants in Sustainable Agricultural Productivity, DOI 10.1007/978-81-322-2647-5_12 Seed Bio-priming for Biotic and Abiotic Stress Management S. Rajendra Prasad, Umesh R. Kamble, K.V. Sripathy, K. Udaya Bhaskar, and D.P. Singh Abstract In modern agriculture, advance technologies are being deployed for break- ing yield barriers and enhancing crop productivity. Devising varied seed enhancement technologies is an important domain assuring uniform field emergence, better crop stand and realisation of higher yield in different crops. Integration of diverse plant extracts, microbial products and biotic agents through bio-priming for managing seed crop targeting against biotic and abiotic stresses has been considered as a unique approach, as it requires lesser amounts of chemicals, enhances efficacy of the seeds, reduces the cost of management and eliminates pollution hazards while causing minimum interference with biological equilibrium. Seed bio- priming is one of the vital seed enhancement tool in management of biotic as well as abiotic stresses and guarantees uniform stand establishment under stress conditions. Therefore, research programmes encompassing identification and genetic manipulations of novel biocontrol agents (fun- gal and bacterial strains) along with its commercial application needs to be devised. Keywords Bio-priming • Rhizosphere • Induced systemic resistance (ISR) • Systemic acquired resistance (SAR) S. Rajendra Prasad (*) • U.R. Kamble K.V. Sripathy • K. Udaya Bhaskar ICAR-Directorate of Seed Research, Kushmaur, Maunath Bhanjan 275103, India e-mail: srprasad1989@yahoo.co.in D.P. Singh ICAR-National Bureau of Agriculturally Important Microorganisms, Kushmaur, Maunath Bhanjan 275103, Uttar Pradesh, India 12 12.1 Introduction Seed is a growth driver of agriculture and effi- cacy of all other agricultural inputs, viz. irriga- tion, fertilisers and plant protectants, and human labour revolves around the use of quality seed. Seed is a tool for delivery of improved technolo-