Effect of hydro and Osmo priming on quality of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Seeds

Effect of hydro and Osmo priming on quality of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Seeds
IJPBCS
Effect of hydro and Osmo priming on quality of
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Seeds
Abebe Sori
Researcher at Fitche Soil Research Center, Oromia Agricultural Research Institutes, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Email:
abebesori@ gmail.com; Tel: +25111111351209
Laboratory and lath-house experiment were carried out at National Seed Quality Control
Laboratory Center, and at Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center lath-house, Ethiopia,
respectively with the objectives to determine the effectiveness of seed priming and variety
on seed quality and stand establishment. Experimental factors were three priming media
[H2O, 0.5% KH2PO4, unprimed)] and six Chickpea varieties (DZ-10-4, Arerti, Habru, DZ-10-11,
Akaki and Natoli) arranged in CRD with four replications. The laboratory results revealed
significant differences (p<0.01) for all parameters except vigor index II, which was significant
at (p<0.05) among different priming treatments and variety in seed germination, all seed
vigor tests. The interactions of the main effect were significant (p<0.01) for all quality
parameters excluding vigor index II, seedling shoot and root length and seedling dry weight.
Significant correlations were also observed between emergence index and most of the vigor
parameters. Moreover, water priming enhanced the germination and vigor index I of all
varieties except DZ-10-4 and Habru; speed of germination of Arerti and electrical
conductivity of all varieties tested. Hydropriming decreased electrical conductivity of seeds
by 20% as compared to osmopriming. Therefore, it can be concluded that hydro priming can
step-up economical benefit of chickpea growing farmers.
Key words: Chickpea, emergence index, hydropriming, osmopriming, seed quality, vigor index
INTRODUCTION
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is 98-99% self pollinated
(Singh, 1987); diploid species having basic
chromosome number of 16 and belongs to family
Leguminasae (Poehlman and Sleper, 1995). It is
cultivated over a vast geographical range, from South-
East Asia, across the Indian subcontinent, the Near
East, Southern Europe, the Balkans, the Mediterranean
basin to East Africa (Abbo et al., 2000).It is one of the
cool season food legume crops of Ethiopia which is
mainly grown in the central, Northern and Eastern high
land area of the country where the mean annual rainfall
and altitude, respectively range from 700-2000mm and
1400-2300 m.a.s.l. (Geletu, 1994).
Two types of chickpea namely Desi and Kabuli are
grown in Ethiopia at the same time as unimproved local
Desi variety being to the most widely grown in all
places. Among improved varieties currently grown in
Ethiopia , DZ 10-4, DZ 10-11, and Dubie were
developed from local breeding materials whilst Mariye,
Worku, Akaki, Shasho, Chafe, Arerti and Habru were
developed using breeding materials improved from
abroad (Muehlbauer and Abebe,1997).
In Ethiopia, Chickpea seed can be eaten as green
vegetable (eshet), roasted (kollo), boiled (nifro) and dry
vegetable. The flour of chickpea is also used to make
„shimbra asa’, popular dish during fasting time. Flour of
roasted chickpea seeds (shiro) are used to make shiro
wot (sauce) and taken with injera (bread). Chickpea
can also improve the soil fertility through biological
International Journal of Plant Breeding and Crop Science
Vol. 1(2), pp. 028-037, November, 2014. © www.premierpublishers.org. ISSN: 2167-0449
Research Article

Sori 028
Table1. Description of chickpea varieties used for the study.
SN Chickpea varieties Year of release Seed color Type/category
1 DZ-10-4 1974 White Kabuli
2 Arerti 1999 White Kabuli
3 Habru 2004 White Kabuli
4 DZ-10-11 1974 Light Brown Desi
5 Akaki 1995 Golden Desi
6 Natoli 2007 Light Golden Desi
Source: (MoAD, 2008; Menale et al., 2009).
nitrogen fixation and intercropped with cereals. Despite
this fact, however, the yield of chickpea in Ethiopia is
still low which can be attributed to biotic and abiotic
factors (Geletu and Yadeta, 2002).
Constraints to good establishment are also including
low quality seed in addition to lack of soil moisture
(Gurumu and Naylor, 1991).These conditions result in
poor emergence that may subsequently cause sparse
plant stands (Saxena et al., 1997). Despite chickpea
plant can produce extra vegetative growth (in a
favorable moisture regime) to cover available space,
poor plant stands and stunted growth are often a major
cause of low seed yields in semiarid environments
(Saxena, 1987).
One way of improving productivity of chickpea in
drought prone area is seed priming. The seed priming
process simply involves soaking the seed overnight (for
about 8 hrs), surface drying them and sowing within the
same day (Musa et al., 2001) to hasten germination,
enhances crop establishment and promotes seedling
vigor (Harris et al., 1999). It includes soaking seed in
water or osmotic solution, and intermixture with porous
matrix material (Ghana and William, 2003).
Humidification is also method of seed enhancement
when seeds are hydrated at a high relative humidity
(Van Pijlen et al., 1996).
On-farm priming of seeds of a range of tropical and
sub-tropical crops have been tested as a means to
promote rapid germination and emergence and to
increase seedling vigor and hence yield (Harris, 2004).
Therefore, the present study was initiated with the
objectives to determine the effectiveness of seed
priming treatment and variety on seed quality and stand
establishment of chickpea varieties.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
EXPERIMENTAL MATERIALS, TREATMENTS AND
DESIGN
The experiment was conducted in laboratory and lath-
house on six chickpea varieties released at different
year (Table1).
The six chickpea varieties produced in the same
production year were used for this study. The seed
used for the test varieties was obtained from the
National Chickpea Improvement Program, Debre Zeit
Agricultural Research Center. The varieties were
selected based on their production under Ethiopia
conditions.
LABORATORY AND LATH-HOUSE EXPERIMENTS
The experiment was laid out into two factorial
arrangement (six chickpea varieties and three priming
treatments: water, 0.5% KH2PO4, and control) in
complete randomized design (CRD) with four
replications.
Standard Germination Test (%)
In the laboratory 400 chickpea seeds in four
replications for every treatment were tested for
standard germination by keeping the seeds in
germination box filled with moist sand at a temperature
of 25o
C. The final count was made on the 8th
days.
At the end of the test, the seedlings were evaluated and
clustered into normal, abnormal, and dead seed. The
normal seedlings including hard seeds were considered
as standard germination and their respective
percentages were calculated for all the four replications
(ISTA, 2004).
Germination %= Number of normal seedlings x100
Number of seeds sown
Speed of Germination
To determine the rate of germination, which is an
expression of vigor, four replicates of 100 seed per
replication of the primed and non primed samples were
planted and kept at a temperature of 25
o
C.
For each replicate, the numbers of germinated seeds
were counted daily until there was no further
germination to take place. Each day normal seedlings
were removed at predetermined size and until the time
all the seeds capable to prouce normal seedlings were
germinated. An index was calculated by dividing the

Int. J. Plant Breeding Crop Sci. 029
number of normal seedling removed each day by the
number of days in which they were removed (Maguire,
1962).
Germination index (GI) =Σ (Gt/Dt), summation of mean
number of normal seedlings germinated per day for t
days.
𝑮𝑰 =
𝑵𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔+⋯+𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒂𝒕𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕
𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕
Seedling Shoot and Root Length
The seedlings shoot and root lengths were measured
after the final count in standard germination test. Ten
normal seedlings were selected randomly from each
replicate. The shoot length was measured from point of
the attachment of the cotyledon to the tip of the
seedling. Similarly, the root length was measured from
the point of attachment to the tip of the root. Average
shoot or root length (cm) was computed by dividing the
total shoot or root length by total number of normal
seedlings measured (Fiala, 1987).
Seedling Dry Weight
Seedling dry weight was measured in grams after final
count in the standard germination test. Ten seedlings
selected randomly from each replicate were cut free
from their cotyledons and placed in envelopes and
dried in an oven at 80±1
o
C for 24 hours. The dried
seedlings were weighed to the nearest grams and the
average dry weight was calculated.
Vigor Index
Seedling vigor index I: This was calculated by
multiplying the standard germination with the average
sum of shoot length (cm) and root length (cm) on the
8
th
day of germination (Islam et al., 2009).
Seedling vigor index II: It was calculated by
multiplying the standard germination with mean
seedling dry weight (Fiala, 1987). In both indices 10
randomly selected seedlings were used.
Conductivity Test
The experiment was conducted in complete
randomized design with four replications. After washing
in distilled water, four replicates of 100 seeds each
were weighted at 2 decimal place and seeds (primed as
well as unprimed) were soaked in 100ml distilled water
in a 150ml flask. Flasks were then be stirred and held
at 20
o
C for 24 hours. Conductivity of leachates was
measured with conductivity meter and the results were
expressed in µscm-1
g-1
. The dip cell was rinsed in
distilled water after each measurement. Hard seeds in
each sample at the end of the test were examined
following (ISTA, 1999), removed, surface dried and
weighted. This weight was subtracted from the initial
weight of each replicate of seeds for the variety
included in the study for calculation of leachates
electrical conductivity (Wang et al., 2004). In addition,
one treatment was kept as a control by using unprimed
seeds. Conductivity per gram of seed was then
calculated. The conductivity of the control was also
measured.
Emergence Index
Emergence index was studied in lath-house on
Agricultural soils by taking 400 seeds in four
replications of an entry. The counted 100 seeds per
replication were sown in every pot. The pots were
placed in lath-house to monitor seedling emergence.
For each replicate, seedling emergence was counted
daily until there was not further germination. The
emergence index was worked out as per Wang et al.
(2005). The emergence index was correlated with other
seed vigor tests for all entries.
Emergence index =Σ (Et/Dt), summation of mean
number of emerged seeds per
day for t days.
Data Analysis
The collected data were subjected to statistical analysis
as per the design using Statistical Analysis System
(SAS, 2001) computer software. Where significant
differences were detected, the mean separations were
carried out using the least significant differences (LSD)
at 0.05 level of probability. Linear correlations between
emergence index and other seed vigor tests were
calculated using SAS computer software.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
LABORATORY AND LATH-HOUSE EXPERIMENTS
Analysis of variance revealed that seed invigoration
technique had influenced seed quality significantly. The
effects of priming treatments on percentage of standard
germination, speed of germination, electrical
conductivity, seedling vigor index II, emergence index,
shoot length, root length , seedling dry weight and
seedling vigor index I were significantly different. In
addition, all these parameters showed significant
differences over varieties at p<0.01.There were also
significant differences in the interaction of priming
treatment and variety for all parameters (p<0.01).
Standard Germination (%)
Significant differences among varieties were obtained
for standard germination percentage across the priming
treatments. Comparing the varieties, the lowest and the

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Table 2. Interaction Effect of Priming Medium By Chickpea Variety on Standard Germination (%)
Priming media
Varieties Control Water KH2PO4 (0.5%) Mean
DZ-10-4 84
i
80
j
69
k
78
e
Arerti 96
bcd
100
a
99
ab
98
a
Habru 94def
88h
82gij
88d
DZ-10-11 91gf
98abc
90hg
93b
Akaki 91gf
95cde
91gf
92bc
Natoli 89
hg
93
ef
90
hg
91
c
Mean 91
a
92
a
87
b
90
Variety Priming Variety x priming
LSD(5%) 1.87 1.32 3.24
CV(%) 2.54
Means with the same letters are not significantly different from each other at p<0.05.
highest germination percentage under laboratory
condition were recorded for DZ-10-4 (78) and Arerti
(98) respectively. However, germination percentage of
DZ-10-11 and Akaki as well as that of Natoli and Akaki
were not significantly different from each other.
Differences in the response of the varieties to priming
media also had been reported by other workers.
Nascimento (2003) forwarded that differences in the
response of seeds to priming has been found to be
dependent on the osmotica (priming), duration of
priming, seed maturity, variety, and environmental
conditions.
Higher germination percentage was found for water
treatment though it was behaved similar with that of the
control. Whereas the application of phosphorous at p
0.5% from the source solution of KH2PO4 through seed
priming could not show better result as compared to
water priming . The present results are in accordance
with the observations of Umair et al. (2010) who
reported that osmopriming like PEG-6000 was found to
reduce germination percentage of mungbean.
There was highly significant difference between variety
by priming treatment interaction for the standard
germination at p<0.01, providing evidence that priming
treatments affected germination percentage of chickpea
varieties differently (Table 2).
In general, effectively higher percentages of standard
germination were recorded for all varieties by soaking
the seeds in water except DZ-10-4 and Habru. In
addition, significantly lower germination percentages
were obtained from all the varieties that were treated
with osmo priming as compared to water priming
except Arerti. In the contrast, DZ-10-11, Akaki and
Natoli that were osmoprimed had similar results for
standard germination as compared to the control. The
seeds primed with water effectively improved the
germination percentage of all varieties other than DZ-
10-4 and Habru. This is supported by observations of
Harris et al. (1999) who reported that under normal
conditions, hydro-priming is effective for germination
and later growth of chickpea. Nascimento (2005) also
reported that primed seeds had higher germination
percentage compared to unprimed seeds. Moreover,
Umair et al. (2010) found that hydro priming
significantly improved final germination percentage of
chickpea. The same author also reported that
osmopriming using P at 0.6% applied in the form of
KH2PO4 significantly improved final germination
percentage.
Speed of Germination
A statistically significant difference of treatments and
interaction were found among the varieties for speed of
germination at p<0.01(Table 3).Speed of germination
was affected by the varieties in which significantly
different responses were obtained between Arerti and
the other varieties except DZ-10-11. Habru and Akaki
were also significantly different from the remaining
varieties but not from each other. The least speed of
germination was recorded by Natoli where as the
maximum speed of germination were obtained from
statistically similar Arerti and DZ-10-11.
Looking in to the effect of priming treatments on speed
of germination, water treatment was effectively
increased the speed of germination over the control
and the osmopriming. However, osmopriming was not
significantly effective in increasing the speed of
germination over the control.
The variety x priming treatment interactions on the
speed of germination was significant at p<0.01(Table
3). Trend of speed of germination in different varieties

Int. J. Plant Breeding Crop Sci. 031
Table 3. Interaction Effect of Priming Medium By Chickpea Variety on The Speed of Germination
Priming media
DZ-10-4 23.03cdef
24.09c
20.00gh
22.37b
Arerti 23.47cd
27.84a
24.65bc
25.32a
Habru 20.84fg
21.07efg
18.92ghi
20.27c
DZ-10-11 23.26cde
24.61bc
26.86ab
24.91a
Akaki 21.20defg
19.96gh
19.20ghi
20.10c
Natoli 16.09j
17.99hij
16.93ij
17.00d
Mean 21.32
b
22.59
a
21.09
b
21.66
LSD (5%) 1.38 0.98 2.39
CV (%) 7.78
Means with the same letter are not significantly different from each other and means not sharing the same letters are different
significantly at p<0.05.
revealed that the greatest speed of germination in Arerti
occurred when the seeds primed with water, while DZ-
10-11 primed with 0.5% KH2PO4 caused the highest
speed of germination compared to the control despite it
was at par with water priming .Water treated seeds
showed increased speed of germination as compared
to unprimed seeds for all varieties except for Akaki.
However, only Arerti demonstrated significant
improvement in the speed of germination when the
seeds were primed in water. Germination rate of Habru
with Akaki as well as Natoli with Akaki showed similar
statistical scenario due to hydro priming. On the other
hand, all the varieties found to show lesser speed of
germination while, significant reduction in the speed of
germination was observed in DZ-10-4 only when the
seeds were osmoprimed. Improvement in the speed of
germination of seeds of chickpea varieties subject to
hydro priming is in conformity with result reported by
Mohamadi (2009), who observed a significant
improvement in the germination rate of soybean seeds
due to hydro priming over unprimed one and
Ghassemi-Golezani et al. (2008) reported that
germination rate was increased significantly from 0.34
in unprimed seeds to 0.52 in hydro primed chickpea
seeds. In addition, increased in germination rate of
primed seeds over unprimed seeds is also in
accordance with the findings of Afzal et al. (2005).
Bove et al. (2001) reported that faster germination is
associated with earlier activation of metabolism and
preparation of the embryo axis for elongation during the
germination process. Priming also causes to reduce the
adherence of seed coat due to imbibitions, which may
permit to emerge out radical without resistance
(Nascimento and West, 1998). So this may also
contribute for an increase in the rate of germination due
to pre sowing seed treatment as indicated in (Table 3).
Seedling Vigor Index I
When the varieties averaged across the priming
treatments, larger seedling vigor index I was recorded
for variety Arerti (2657.9) as compared to the other
varieties that were used for tests despite it was showed
similar effect with that of DZ-10-4, DZ-10-11 and Akaki.
Natoli and Habru were also significantly different from
the remaining varieties but not from each other. Variety
Habru (1997.3) having lesser seedling vigor index I was
at par with Natoli (2042.1) (Table 4).
Seedling vigor index I of the 8 days old seedlings were
significantly differing among priming media/treatments
at P < 0.01 (Table 4).The priming medium water had
produced the highest seedling vigor index over the
varieties followed by 0.5% KH2PO4.The minimum
seedling vigor index I was in control where non-primed
seeds were used. Water priming increased seedling
vigor index I by 14% and 5% respectively as compared
to the control and osmopriming. Moreover,
osmopriming also improved seedling vigor index I by
9% over the control. Water and 0.5%
KH2PO4treatments exhibited more vigor index I over the
control. At the same time, these treatments improved
shoot length and root length (Figures 2 and 3). This
parameter depends on germination percentage, shoot

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Table 4 .Interaction Effect of Priming Medium By Variety on The Vigor Index I
Priming media
DZ-10-4 2683.7
a
2744.3
a
2400.8
c
2609.60
a
Arerti 2438.0
bc
2731.4
a
2809.70
a
2659.70
a
Habru 1871.3g
2125.5def
1995.2fg
1997.33b
DZ-10-11 2240.4cde
2851.1a
2735.0a
2608.83a
Akaki 2354.8cd
2793.8a
2652.5ab
2600.37a
Natoli 1910.7gf
2122.5def
2093.0gef
2042.07b
Mean 2249.82
c
2561.43
a
2447.70
b
2419.65
LSD (5%) 137.05 96.91 237.38
CV(%) 6.67
Means with the same letter are not significantly different from each other and means not sharing the same letters are different significantly at
p<0.05.
length and root length. However, in the current
investigation enhancements of vigor index contributed
by shoot and root length because these treatments
didn‟t improved germination percentage effectively over
the control. Results of the present study suggested that
seed priming was effective tools for seed invigoration in
chickpea. This is supported by Thakare et al. (2011)
observed that oxygenated peptone chickpea seed
treatment exhibited more vigor index I. This finding also
was endorsed with Umair et al (2010) who reported that
both hydro priming and osmo priming 0.6% KH2PO4
improved vigor Index I of mungbean (Vigna radiata L.).
He also concluded that the application of P in the form
of seed treatment resulted in increased seedling vigor.
The increased vigor of P-enriched seed might be due to
increased P content both inside the seeds and on the
seed surfaces which leads to better establishment of
seedlings (Ros et al., 1997).The reduction in the
seedling vigor has also been reported by (Basra et al.,
2003). There was significant difference in variety x
priming medium interaction for seedling vigor index I at
p< 0.01.When the seeds were water treated, all the
varieties performed effectively for seedling vigor index I
over the control except DZ-10-4 and Natoli. But water
priming couldn‟t significantly improve seedling vigor
Index I of DZ-10-4 and Natoli over the control. When
the seeds were primed with the solution of
0.5%KH2PO4 all varieties showed improvement for
seedling vigor index I over the control except DZ-10-4
that had the least vigor index I at osmopriming.
However, statistically significant increase in seedling
vigor index was revealed by Arerti, DZ-10-11 and Akaki
as compared to the control (Table 4). Still the seedling
vigor index I of osmopriming and unprimed were the
same for the varieties Habru and Natoli. On the other
hand, both hydro priming and osmopriming were not
effectively improved the seedling vigor. Index I of DZ-
10-4 and Natoli varieties as compared to the control.
Comparing hydro priming with that of KH2PO4 (0.5%),
other than DZ-10-4 all the varieties had similar seedling
vigor index I for the two priming media (Table 4).
Seedling Vigor Index II
The mean values for seedling vigor index II that
indicate the main effect of variety and priming treatment
are presented in Figure 1. The analysis of variance
revealed significant differences in seedling vigor index
II due to variety effect (p<0.01) and due to priming
treatment effect (p<0.05) but there was no significant
difference for variety x priming treatment interaction.
Looking at the effects of varieties on the seedling vigor
ndex II, they responded differently to the priming
treatments for seedling vigor index II (Figure1A).Natoli
had the highest seedling vigor index II and then
followed by Arerti. However, the lowest seedling vigor
index II was produced by DZ-10-11 but it was at par
with DZ-10-4.Furthermore, there was similar seedling
vigor index II between Akaki and Habru varieties
statistically.
Regarding the effect of priming treatments on seedling
vigor index II, priming treatment KH2PO4 (0.5%) was
the most effective treatment in increasing the seedling
vigor index II over the control where priming treatment
of water also gave values significantly different from
that of the control. Priming treatment 0.5% KH2PO4 and
Water treatment resulted in21% and 15% increase in
seedling vigor index II, respectively as compared to the
control despite there was no significant difference
between water priming and Osmopriming (Figure 1B).
Therefore, invigoration made by osmopriming on
seedling vigor index II was better than water priming as
far as it improved vigor index II by 5% over the hydro

Figure 1. Effect of varieties on seedling vigor index II(A) and Effect of priming medium on seedling vigor index II(B)
Bar graphs designated by the same letters are not significantly different from each other at p<0.05
priming despite they were at par. At the same time,
osmo priming and hydro priming treatments exhibited
more seedling dry weight over the control (Figure1B).
This parameter is depends on germination percentage
and seedling dry weight. However, the data indicating
that for the present study it was the seedling dry weight
that brought most enhancement in the vigor index II
because germination percentage was not improved by
the osmopriming including water priming that was at
par with control. This is in close agreement with
Dornbos‟s work (2002) who concluded that seedling dry
weight represents a logical and relevant estimate of
seed vigor. What is more, seedling dry weight was
affected by shoots and root length of the seedling, so
increased shoots and root length due to water and
osmopriming in turn could enhance vigor index II.
Electrical Conductivity Test
A highly significant difference (P < 0.01) in electrical
conductivity reading was observed among the varieties
tested as a result of seed treatments (Table 5). The
data indicated that primed chickpea seeds with water
and 0.5% KH2PO4hadthepotential to reduce seed
leachates in all chickpea varieties. Variety Arerti was
significantly recorded the lowest electrical conductivity
whereas Natoli demonstrated the highest electrical
conductivity reading compared to other varieties but it
had no significant difference from that of variety DZ-10-
4. Next to Natoli and DZ-10-4, higher electrical
conductivity was produced by Akaki. Statistically, Habru
and DZ-10-11 had also alike electrical conductivity. The
variations amongst varieties in their response to
priming might be related to genetic differences.
Statistically significant differences in the electrical
conductivity readings were also noted for the different
priming media (P < 0.01) (Table 5). Electrical
conductivity decreased with both hydro and osmo
priming treatments as compared to the control, and
even more effectively decreased with hydro priming
treatment. When averaged across the priming media,
electrical conductivity decreased by 31% with water
treatment and 14% with osmopriming as compared to
unprimed. This means leachates from the seeds
decreased by 31% and 14% as a result of water and
0.5% KH2PO4 priming respectively as compared to the
control. Moreover, the seeds primed in water
decreased electrical conductivity by 20% as compared
to that of osmo primed seeds (Table 5).
Priming treatment by variety interaction was highly
significant for the electrical conductivity at p<0.01.
When seeds primed with water, all varieties exhibited a
decrease in electrical conductivity over the control and
the degree of reduction in the seed electrical
conductivity was the highest (54%) for variety Arerti and
the lowest (9%) for variety Natoli, whereas there was
an intermediate decline for the other varieties that could
range from 16% to 44%(Table 5). On the contrary, as
comparing to hydro priming with 0 .5% KH2PO4
solution, all the varieties displayed an increment in the
electrical conductivity other thanDZ-10-1.When seeds
were primed with solution of 0.5 % KH2PO4; all the
varieties demonstrated significantly reduction in the

Table 5. Interaction Effect of Priming Medium By Variety on The Electrical Conductivity (µscm-1
g-1
).
Varieties Priming media Mean
Control Water KH2PO4 (0.5%)
DZ-10-4 115.86a
64.70e
90.86c
90.47a
Arerti 58.79
ef
27.28
h
43.79
g
43.29
d
Habru 59.70
ef
42.84
g
54.61
f
52.38
c
DZ-10-11 65.10
e
54.77
f
46.24
g
55.37
c
Akaki 89.45c
60.94ef
74.17d
74.85b
Natoli 88.95c
80.55d
102.43b
90.64a
Mean 79.64a
55.18c
68.68b
63.27
Variety Priming Variety x Priming
LSD(5%) 4.04 2.85 6.99
CV(%) 7.27
Means sharing the same letters are at par and those sharing different letters are differed significantly at p<0.05.
electrical conductivity as compared to the control but
Habru and Natoli. However, increases in electrical
conductivity in Natoli occurred when the seeds primed
with 0.5% KH2PO4 solution while in Habru similar result
appeared as compared to dry seeds.
Prediction of seedling performance in relation to
electrical conductivity test is based on nutrient leaching
from damaged seeds (McDonald, 1975). Loss of
membrane integrity is a key physiological symptom of
seed damage and it is measured by the conductivity of
seed leachates (Karta, 2009).Kausar et al. (2009)
reported that seed priming presumably allowed some
repairs of damage to membrane caused by
deterioration. Therefore, seed that may deteriorate
during maturation and/or storage and thus undergo
repair of damaged parts during imbibitions (Copeland
and McDonald, 1995) indicates that seeds could benefit
more from priming treatments. The lower electrical
conductivity of seed leachates treated seeds may be
due to beneficial effect of priming in strengthening the
cell membrane integrity and permeability (Kurdikeri,
1991). On the other hand, the decrease in leachates as
a result of priming treatment has been suggested to
come from membrane repair mechanisms that occur
during soaking (Steiner, 1990).
Seedling Shoot and Root Length, and Seedling Dry
Weight
The varieties showed significant differences for shoot
and root length (cm) as well as for seedling dry weigh
(g) at p<0.01(Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4,
respectively). However, interaction between variety x
priming were not significant for these traits .The data
regarding mean number of shoot length, root length
and seedling dry weight has been presented in the
Figures 2 and 3.The longest shoot and root length were
demonstrated by variety DZ-10-4. However, there was
similar result between DZ-10-4 and Arerti for root
length. Akaki and DZ-10-11 failed to show significant
differences between themselves for shoot length. There
was no significant difference between Habru and Natoli
for shoot length. Furthermore, the data depicted that
similar effects were obtained among Habru, DZ-10-11,
Akaki and Natoli for root length under laboratory
condition during germination test (Figures 2A and 2B).
Variety Natoli produced the highest seedling dry weight
followed by Arerti. However, variety DZ-10-4 produced
the lowest seedling dry weight but it had similar dry
weight with that of DZ-10-11.The seedlings from the
chickpea varieties Habru, DZ-10-11 and Akaki had
accumulated identical dry weight( incubated in the
growth chamber for 8 days at an average temperature
of 25o
C( Figure 4A).
There were also significant (p<0.01) differences due to
priming media for all the three traits. Different seed
priming treatments affected the vigorsity of chickpea
variety significantly in terms of shoot length, root length,
and seedling dry weight respectively as indicated in
Figure 2, Figure 3 and Figure 4.As it can be seen,
shoot length, root length (Figures 2B and 3B) and
seedling dry weight (Figure 4B) followed a trend similar
to seedling vigor index II. Seeds primed in solution of
0.5% KH2PO4 had the maximum shoot length, root
length and seedling dry weight, followed by water
treatment despite similar results were exhibited for the
shoot length, root length and seedling dry weight due to
hydro priming and osmopriming. KH2PO4 (0.5%)
treatment enhanced both shoot and root length by 14%

Figure 2. Effect of variety on seedling shoot length (A) and Effect of priming medium on seedling shoot length (B)
Bar graphs designated by the same letters are not significantly different from each other at p<0.05.
Figure 3. Effect of variety on seedling root length (A) and Effect of priming medium on seedling root length (B)
(Figure 2B and 3B) and seedling dry weight by 17%
compared to the control. There were similar effects
between hydro and osmo priming for shoot length, root
length and seedling dry weight (Figure 4B). The
minimum shoot and root length as well as minimum
seedling dry weight was in the control where non-
primed seeds were used (Figures 2B, 3B and 4B,
respectively).
Umairet al. (2010) reported that priming mungbean
(Vigna radiata L.) with water and 0.6%KH2PO4 for five
hours improved the growth of shoot and root length and
also increased seedling dry weight under laboratory
conditions. Grandi et al. (1999) also found that P
enrichment by soaking in 0.2% KH2PO4 solution
improved the seedling establishment of common bean.
The increased vigor of P-enriched seed might be due to
increased P content both inside the seeds and on the
seed surfaces which can lead to better establishment of
seedlings (Ros et al., 2000). Similarly, the increase in
seedling vigor may be due to enhanced oxygen uptake
and the efficiency of mobilizing nutrients from the
cotyledons to the embryonic axis (Kathiresan et al.,
1984) and decreased catalase and peroxidase levels
as recorded in pea seedlings (Srivastava and Dwivedi,
1998).Root and shoot lengths are the most important

Figure 4. Effect of Variety on seeddling dry eweight(A) and Effect of Priming medium on seedling dry weight (B)
Bar graphs designated by the same letters are not significantly different from each other at p<0.05
Table 6. Interaction effect of priming media x varieties on the Emergence Index
Varieties Priming media Mean
Control Water KH2PO4(0.5%)
DZ-10-4 6.41
ij
5.94
ij
5.18
j
5.84
d
Arerti 8.59
fgh
10.61
abc
9.43cdef
9.37b
Habru 8.38
efg
9.12d
ef
7.30
ihg
8.27
c
DZ-10-11 9.66bcde
11.61a
10.82
abc
10.7
a
Akaki 10.89
ab
10.25
abcd
6.35
ij
9.16
b
Natoli 8.38efg
8.21fgh
6.78hi
7.79c
Mean 8.63b
9.29a
7.64c
8.52
Variety Priming Variety x Priming
LSD(5%) 0.824 0.583 1.427
CV(%) 11.81
Means with the same letters are not significantly different from each other. And those means designated by different letters are
differed statistically at p<0.05.
parameters because roots are in a direct contact with
soil to absorb water and shoots supply it to the rest of
the plant (Thakare et al., 2011).
Furthermore, rapid embryo growth resulted when the
obstacle to germination was removed as a result of
changes taking place during seed priming. These
changes include macromolecular synthesis, several
enzymes activities, increase germination power and
vigor and overcoming dormancy (Khan, 1992).
Emergence Index
Effect of variety revealed significant difference for
emergence index at P < 0.01. When averaged across
the priming treatments, DZ-10-4 and DZ-10-11 showed
lowest and the highest emergence index respectively.
Arerti performed significantly greater emergence index
than Habru, Natoli and DZ-10-4, but not from that of
Akaki (Table 6).Next to DZ-10-4, Natoli had the smaller
emergence index where as Arerti and Akaki took the

Table 7. Linear correlation Coefficients(r) between emergence index and vigor parameters tested in the
laboratory at 5% and 1% level of significance.
SGP SG VI VII SL RL DW EC
SGP 1.00
SG 0.26 ** 1.00
VI 0.22 0.59** 1.00
VII 0.35** -0.32** -0.15 1.00
SL -0.43** 0.39** 0.70** -0.55** 1.00
RL -0.22 0.28* 0.59** 0.01 0.48** 1.00
DW 0.08 -0.57** -0.43** 0.69** -0.53** -0.15 1.00
EC -0.43 ** -0.53** -0.23* 0.01 0.16 -0.08 0.39** 1.00
EI 0.60** 0.40** 0.20 -0.04 -0.15 -0.25* -0.14 -.50**
*, ** designated significant difference at p<0.05 and p<0.01 respectively. SGP= Standard germination percentage, SG= speed of germination,
VI= Vigor index I, VII= Vigor index II, SL= Shoot length (cm), RL= Root length (cm), DW= Seedling dry weight (g), EI= Emergence index; EC=
Electrical conductivity (μscm
1
g
-1
).
second place in the value of emergence index.
With the same planting date, emergence index of the
variety displayed significant variation across the priming
treatments at p<0.01. In reference to seed invigoration
treatments, osmopriming performed the least as
compared to that of both water treatment and control.
As a result, there was an increase in emergence index
by 8% for hydro priming as compared to the control.
However, there was a sharp decline in the emergence
index by 18% upon using osmopriming as compared to
water and also decreased by 11% as compared to the
control. Therefore, water treatment performed better
than both osmopriming and the control. In consistence
with present result, Brar and Stewart (1994) reported
that seed priming by soaking in water for 10 hours and
some more hours followed by surface drying and
sowing markedly improved the seedling emergence of
sorghum. Associated with such greater seedling
emergence were faster crop development, earlier
flowering, maturity and higher yields. Harris (1996) also
reported that soaking sorghum seeds for 10 hours
advanced seedling emergence from the soil by 12
hours.
Analysis of variation indicated that an interaction of
variety x priming medium was significantly different for
emergence index (P < 0.01). Trend of emergence index
in different varieties revealed that upon priming the
seeds with water, only Arerti and DZ-10-11 showed
significant increase in the emergence index over the
control by 24% and 20%, respectively, while that of
DZ-10-4, Habru, Akaki and Natoli were not different
significantly from the control. When osmopriming was
used instead of hydro priming, Habru and Akaki
demonstrated significant decrease of 20% and 38%,
respectively in the emergence index compared to
water. So these two varieties performed better for this
parameter with water priming than with osmo priming.
However, the rest of the varieties showed similar
response statistically for emergence index with water
treatment and 0.5 % KH2PO4 solution. Comparing
osmopriming with that of unprimed seeds, Natoli and
Akaki varieties resulted in a sharp decline in
emergence index whereas other varieties had similar
responses to both osmopriming and the control.
According to Taylor et al. (1998) the physiological basis
for increasing seedling emergence of primed seeds
might be due to early DNA replication, increased RNA
and protein synthesis, greater ATP availability, faster
embryo growth, repair of deteriorated seed parts, and
reduced leakage of metabolites compared to the
control. In addition to initiating metabolic events, hydro
priming may also leach germination inhibitors from the
seeds (Taylor et al., 1998). Such a removal of
germination inhibitors may reduced the germination
time so that increased seedling emergence index of
primed seeds with respect to the control.
Correlations between Emergence Index and Other
Vigor Tests.
Linear correlation analysis between emergence index
and other vigor parameters showed that significant

associations were observed between emergence index
and other vigor parameters tested in the laboratory
such as speed of germination, root length, and
electrical conductivity of seed leachates.
Moreover, there was also positive and significant
correlation(r=0.60) between standard germination and
emergence index (Table 7). There was considerable
positive (r = 0.40) and significant (P < 0.01) relationship
between speed of germination and emergence index.
While root length was correlated with emergence index
(r = - 0.25, p=0.05) and their correlation was negative.
Furthermore, there was also substantial significant (P <
0.01) and negative correlation (r = -0.50) between
seedling emergence index and seed leachates
electrical conductivity.
In general, correlation comparison results showed that
primed seeds with high rate of germination also
resulted in high emergence index while a negative
relationship was demonstrated by root length and
electrical conductivity. A significant correlation between
seedling emergence index and other vigor tests was
reported by Kausar et al. (2009). Similarly, a significant
correlation between seedling emergence index and
vigor tests of speed of germination, root length and
electrical conductivity was also reported by Karta
(2009). However, different finding was reported by
Tekrony and Egli (1991) who stated that some vigor
tests such as conductivity test was not correlated with
seedling emergence.
CONCLUSION
Farmers and researchers have recognized that poor
crop establishment is one of the major bottlenecks for
crop production. This is particularly a problem for post
rainy crops like chickpea mainly grown in such a sub-
optimal environment. Seed priming (pre-sowing
soaking) has been offered as a solution to this problem
that will maximize the probability of obtaining a good
stand of healthy and vigorous plants. It is logical to
propose that seed priming has low cost and low risk
that would be appropriate for all farmers and it is a key
technology to improve the livelihood of resource-poor
farmers in the marginal environments. Therefore, in
present study, it can be concluded that hydro priming
can step-up economical benefit of chickpea growing
farmers.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The first and the foremost gratitude and praise goes to
the Almighty God, who is helping me in every sect of
my life to pass through the whole challenges and reach
at this endeavor.
My profound thanks are also extended to my younger
sister Mrs. Gete Sori for unreserved financial and moral
support and encouragement throughout the study.
Finally, I would like to express my appreciation for the
National Seed Quality Control Laboratory workers and
Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center lath-house
workers, all for providing necessary and unreserved
technical expertise, experience and materials supports
while working in the laboratory and Lath-house.
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Accepted 5 November, 2014.
Citation: Sori A (2014). Effect of hydro and Osmo
priming on quality of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.)
Seeds. International Journal of Plant Breeding and
Crop Science, 1(2): 028-037.
Copyright: © 2014. Sori A. This is an open-access
article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original author and source are
cited.

Effect of hydro and Osmo priming on quality of Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) Seeds

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