March, 2016 Research in Environment and Life Sciences 328  2016 RELS ISSN: 0974-4908 http://rels.comxa.com Res. Environ. Life Sci. rel_sci@yahoo.com 9(3) 328-330 (2016) Osmopriming of artificially aged rice (Oryza sativa L.) seeds and its effect on germination, vigour and biochemical characters Jai Prakash Gupta* 1 , Ajay Kumar 2 and Yashawant Kumar 1 1 Institute of Agriculture Sciences, Bundelkhand University Jhansi-284128, India 2 Departmant of Seed Science & Technology C.S.A.U.A. & T. Kanpur-208002, India *e-mail: jaiprakashgpt28@gmail.com (Received: August 02, 2015; Revised received: January 12, 2016; Accepted: January 15, 2016) Abstract: The present experiment was initiated to examine the effect of osmopriming on rice seed attributes after accelerated ageing. Rice variety BPT-5204 was taken to evaluate the effect of osmopriming on its germination, vigour, viability and biochemical properties. Inorganic Chemical namely ZnSO 4 , PEG (Phosphoenoleglycolate), KNO 3 (potassium nitrate), KH 2 PO 4 (potassium artho phosphate) and Salicylic acid were used. The result revealed that the seeds osmopriming with 1% ZnSO 4 recorded higher seed germination(82.70%),seedling length (32.37cm),seedling vigour index I (2677) and seedling vigour index II (438) priming after accelerated ageing treatment. Seed storage proteins were degraded in the artificially ageing process and Osmopriming of artificially aged seeds may be responsible for reversing effects of artificial ageing. Key words: Osmopriming, Accelerated ageing, Electrophoresis, Rice seed. Introduction Rice (Oryza sativa L.) belongs to the genus Oryza, tribe Oryzeae and family Poaceae. It is the second largest principal food crop in the world after wheat and is one of the main staple food crop in India. Seed quality plays a crucial role in realizing the full genetic potential of varieties as well as benefits of other agricultural inputs. The use of quality seeds alone increases the productivity to the extent of 15 to 20 per cent. Only seeds with assured genetic and physical purity can be expected to response to the other inputs in agriculture. Among the inputs used by the farmers for agriculture production seed is the cheapest one and it forms only part of the cultivation expenses. All the efforts and investment would be unremunerative if farmer does not get good quality seeds. Only seed with good germination and vigour can give a good stand of the crop, otherwise there will be inadequate plant population and low yields. A mere increase in the seed rate may compensate for poor germination, but it cant ensure vigourous and uniform growth of the crop. Thus, quality seed is a crucial factor to enhance grain production in rice. Seed priming has presented promising, and even surprising results, for many seeds including the legume seeds. Seed Priming is a technique which assures crop establishment and consequentially crop productivity even under stress conditions. Priming is associated with uptake of water by the seed to initiate the early events of germination but not sufficient to permit radical protrusion followed by drying. Osmopriming is unique technique in which seeds are soaked in osmotic solutions. In this process the germination is regulated by manipulating temperature, seed moisture content and duration. As rice is self-pollinated crop and farmers tends to use farm save seeds for sowing. During storage of seeds many factors such as moisture, relative humidity and temperature during storage, insect and pest infestation etc. influence viability and vigour of seeds. The main purpose of this study to evaluate the effect of osmopriming on seeds attribute of rice and identified best chemical for increasing germination, vigour and viability of rice variety studied. Material and Methods This experiment was conducted at Seed Technology lab, Directorate of Seed Research, Mau, India in Completely randomized block design (CRD) during 2013-14. The one elite genotypei.e. BPT-5204 of rice were obtained from DSR, Mau. The five different osmopriming treatments i.e. 0.5% KH 2 PO 4, 10% PEG, 20ppm Salicylic acid, 1% ZnSO 4 and 1% KNO 3 were given on artificially aged seeds of rice. Physical purity test, Accelerating aging test, Germination test, Viability test, Seedling length (cm), Seedling width (cm), seedling L/b ratio, vigour test and electrophoresis were conducted at both seed viz. untreated and treated seeds. Working sample was used for physical purity analysis. Different components of the physical purity viz., pure seed, other crop seed, weed seeds and inert matter were separated and weighed. Components of less than 0.05% were reported as trace. The percentage by weight of each component was calculated and recorded to one decimal place (ISTA, 2008). Accelerated ageing treatment was carried out in 98.2 % relative humidity was maintained with 10 % glycerol and was maintained at 45 0 C, for 72 hours. Seeds of rice cultivar BPT-5204 in 3 replications were kept in nylon moisture pervious net bags and placed in air tight desiccators. After exposure period these seeds were used for further osmopriming treatments. Osmopriming treatment was carried out in 100 accelerated ageing seeds of rice (Oryza sativa) cultivar BPT-5204. Seeds were soaked in 200 ml solution of 3 replications @ 0.5% KH 2 PO 4 , 10% PEG, 20ppm Salicylic acid, 1%ZnSO 4 and 1% KNO 3 for 12 hours. After 12 hours soaking seeds were dried back to original moisture content. Germination test was conducted by using between paper method