Pak. J. Bot., 49(4): 1239-1253, 2017. HORMONAL SEED PRIMING IMPROVES WHEAT (TRITICUM AESTIVUM L.) FIELD PERFORMANCE UNDER DROUGHT AND NON-STRESS CONDITIONS ANEELA ULFAT 1* , SYED ABDUL MAJID 1 AND AMJAD HAMEED 2 1 Department of Botany, University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Muzaffarabad, Pakistan 2 Nuclear Institute for Agriculture and Biology (NIAB), P.O. BOX 128, FSD, Pakistan * Corresponding author’s email: anila_khan8727@yahoo.com Abstract Global warming and unexpected climatic change especially increased in temperature and drought incidence were forced the agri- scientist to develop long term future strategies required for all drought and temperature sensitive crops including wheat. The objective of this study was to explore the process of better wheat growth and development under premises of drought. Five wheat cultivars were used to study the effect of drought and to cope drought with hormonal priming. Wheat seeds were primed in 10 -4 M concentration of Salicylic acid (SA) and Gibberellic acid (GA), control was also used. Yield and yield components were decreased under drought. PAKISTAN-13 had the highest grain yield under normal and stress condition. The highest yield reductions were found in CHAKWAL-50 under normal condition. Under stress condition CHAKWAL-50 also had minimum yield. Among five genotypes FSD-08 maintained its yield under drought stress as compared to other genotypes. Hormonal priming improved yield under normal condition and overcome the effect of stress under drought. Priming increased the grain yield in CHAKWAL-50 and other genotypes. PAKISTAN-13 had the highest harvest index under normal condition and also under stress condition. PAKISTAN-13 and FSD-08 had the highest stress tolerance index while SA priming increased the stress tolerance index in CHAKWAL-50. Total sugar and protein contents were increased under drought. In conclusion, under normal and drought stress genotypic difference was observed for yield and yield contributing traits. PAKISTAN 13 and FSD-08 were wining genotypes. Seed priming was able to overcome stress and increased yield. Stress tolerance index was also improved by using hormonal priming. Genotype response was different under normal and drought stress. Key words: Wheat, Drought, Seed priming, GA and SA. Introduction Global warming and climate change are altering the socio-economic and agriculture prospects at global level. Many developing countries like Pakistan are in problems of glacier melting, flash floods on one end while drought, heat stress and inadequate water availability for agriculture crops at the other end. Agriculture sector ensures fulfillment of food and feed requirements of the people and is a big source of foreign exchange that contributes significantly in national GDP of the country. The water requirements of crop increased with the increase in climatic temperature to compete the harsh environmental conditions and water scarcity. The ability of a cultivars to produce high and satisfactory yield over a wide range of fluctuating environment is very important (Ahmad et al., 2003). Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important cereal and staple food of many countries. Wheat feeds one-third of the world population and fulfill nearly half of the protein requirements. The global demand for wheat may rise up to 750 million tons till 2025 (Mujeeb-Kazi, 2006). Water scarcity at seedling stage, mid season water stress or drought incidence at terminal stages are major threats to wheat productivity. At seedling stage, the poor germination, more mean emergence time, reduced seedling vigor, low growth and development rate effect the yield of wheat crop (Noorka et al., 2009). Wheat is highly sensitive to water stress at flowering, anthesis and grain filling stages and any water shortage at these critical stages can lead to reduction in grain numbers and size that ultimately limits the grain yield (Gooding et al., 2003). Many other morphological traits related to grain yield of wheat can also be affected by drought stress, due to reduction in number of fertile spike per unit area, number of grain per spike, 1000 grain weight, biological yield, harvest index and plant height (Cattivelli et al., 2008). In order to cope with the drought stress, wheat plants exhibit different physiological responses, morphological expressions and biochemical functions. Seed priming a practical, cheapest physiological approach that triggers drought tolerance mechanism in wheat genotypes under water deficit situations and helps during emergence and first development stage. Priming with salicylic acid related compounds activate induction and inhibition processes in plants (Gill & Tuteja, 2010). Salicylic acid improved crop yield and yield related morphological traits depending upon plant species types, plant development stage, concentration level and manner of application (Arfan et al., 2007). Gibberellins (GAs) are generally involved in growth and development. They control seed germination, leaf expansion, stem elongation and flowering (Magome et al., 2004). Priming with GA3 induced increase in wheat grain yield was attributed to the GA3-priming-induced modulation of ions uptake and partitioning and hormones homeostasis under saline conditions (Iqbal & Ashraf, 2013). The general objective of this study was to investigate the response of wheat genotypes to drought stress. Other objective was to check usefulness of phytohormones i.e., SA and GA as priming agents to improve the wheat performance in terms of yield and yield contributing traits under drought and non-stressed control conditions.. The research outcomes in this regard can help in wheat improvement in Himalayan region of PAKISTAN especially in Azad Kashmir.