The document discusses the importance of micronutrients in crop plant growth and methods for their application, particularly through seed treatment, which proves to be beneficial in enhancing germination, yield, and nutrient content. Various seed priming techniques using solutions of micronutrients such as zinc and boron are highlighted, showing positive effects on seedling establishment and growth attributes. Overall, the study emphasizes that seed treatment methods can serve as efficient alternatives to conventional applications in resource-poor farming settings.

1. Micronutrient delivery system
through seed in crop plants
Presented by:-
Ankit Moharana
02SST/PhD./17
DOCTORAL SEMINAR- II (SST-692)
ADVISOR
Dr Simanta Mohanty
ASRO (Seed
Production),STR,AICRP-NSP
(Crops),OUAT,BBSR

2. Micronutrients have been called minor or trace elements indicating
that their concentration in plant tissues are minor or in trace amounts
relative to the macronutrients (Mortvedt,2000)
 It is essential for the normal growth of plants. Deficiencies of
micronutrient drastically affects the growth, metabolism and
reproductive phase of plants.
 The essential micronutrients are zinc(Zn), manganese(Mn),
copper(Cu), iron(Fe), boron(B), molybdenum(Mo) and chlorine(Cl)
Introduction

4. Singh et.al.,2007

5. Micronutrient application method:-
 It involves mostly 3 types of micronutrient application
method , these are :-
 Soil and foliar applications are the most prevalent methods of
micronutrient addition but the cost involved and difficulty in
obtaining high quality micronutrient fertilizers are major concerns
with these in developing countries.
Soil application method
Foliar application method
Application through seed

6. Micronutrient application through seed treatments:-
It can again sub divided into 2 categories i.e.
These are an attractive and easy alternative for micronutrient delivery
system.
 Micronutrient application through seed treatments improves the
stand establishment, advances phenological events, increases yield and
micronutrient grain contents.
 In most cases, micronutrient application through seed treatment
performed better or similar to other application methods. Being an easy and
cost effective method of micronutrient application, seed treatments offer an
attractive option for resource-poor farmers.
Seed priming
Seed coating

7. Micronutrient seed priming/Nutripriming
 It is a technique in which seeds are soaked with solutions
containing the limiting nutrient instead of pure water. The idea of
this method is to obtain nutritional effect together with biochemical
advantages of priming in order to improve seed quality, germination
parameters, and seedling establishment.

8. Broad spectrum nutrient seed priming (BSN)
It is based on imbibing seeds in mixture of minerals, such as zinc, copper,
manganese, molybdenum which has been proved to fertilize the seed and
provides the nutrients for early growth, which positively affects germination,
seedling vigour and root system development.

9. Fertilising the Seed is Efficient:-
Delivery of nutrient via the seed is the most efficient and effective process when
compared to delivery of nutrient via the Leaf and Soil. Seed delivery is low input,
functional and can ensure up to 95% of supplied nutrient is provided in a usable
form for the seed to apply to its future growth and development.

11.  In micronutrient seed priming (nutri-priming), solutions of
micronutrients are used as osmotica.
 Primed seeds usually have better and more synchronized
germination owing simply to less imbibition time and build-up of
germination-enhancing metabolites.
• in which water is used
as a solvent
seed
fortification
• in which any organic
solvent is usedseed infusion
Micronutrient seed priming

12. Seed fortification
It is pre hydration technique were seeds are soaked either
in water or dilute solution of bioactive chemicals such as micro
nutrients, growth regulators, vitamins and seed protectants.
Seed infusion
It is a method of impregnation of seeds with bioactive
chemicals through organic solvents instead of water this technique
of infusion which helps to avoid the damage caused to the seed
due to soaking in water. hence this method is highly suitable to the
seeds that suffer from soaking or seed coat injury (pulses).
(Halmer, 2006)

13. Steps in seed fortification

14. Micronutrient seed coating:-
 Micronutrients are made to adhere around the seed
with the help of some sticky material. The success and
effectiveness of seed coating with micronutrients
depends on the nutrient used, coating material, soil type,
moisture and fertility status and the nutrient : seed ratio.
 Seed fortification, infusion and coating techniques
using micronutrients can serve as a very good alternative
to the conventional soil and foliar applications, in
targeting the rhizosphere region of the plants.

15. 1
After Seed Coating
Seed coating binds fertiliser to seed coat.
2
After Sowing
When seed is sown, some of the coated particles
separate from the seed and may sit inaccessible
above the seed plane. In early hours of
germination, the growing embryo does not sense
any of the coated nutrients.
3
During Germination
The root, emerging from germinating seed,
searches for soil and coated nutrients in the
surrounding soil.

17. All primed and non-primed seeds were grown in earthen pots contained sandy clay
loam soil with EC 0.74 dS/m, pH 7.8, organic matter (0.71%), total nitrogen content
(0.06%), available phosphorus 3.6 mg kg-1, exchangeable potassium 168 mg kg-1
and Boron 0.48 ppm.
Materials and methods
Broccoli seeds CV. Marathon used in the present study to observe the efficacy of seed
priming with boron on germination and growth attributes of seedlings. Twenty broccoli
seeds were soaked in solution of 0.01, 0.05, 0.5 and 1% boric acid solution (w/v) for 18
hours. Seeds were also soaked in distilled water (hydropriming) and unprimed seeds were
taken as control. The seeds were surface washed thrice with distilled water and dried at
room temperature. All primed and unprimed seeds were planted in earthen pots containing
soil.
Memon et al.,2013

18. Response of Seed Priming with Boron on Length and Weight of the Shoot and Root of the Seedlings
Influence of Seed Priming with Boron on Germination Related Parameters
Conclusion
It is concluded from the present study that seed priming with boron is beneficial to improve
germination and other growth related attributes of the seedlings. However the increased
levels of boron caused reduction in most of the evaluated parameters of broccoli seedlings.
Further experimentation is required to optimize boron concentrations for each specific crop.

19. Three levels of iron, viz. [0 (control), 0.1% and 0.3% solution] and three levels of zinc, viz.
[0 (control), 0.5% and 1% solution] were used to treat the groundnut seeds before sowing.
seeds were soaked in these solutions for 8 hours .The soil analysis showed that the soil was
low in both micronutrients. The levels of iron and zinc in the soil before sowing were 0.83
and 0.56 ppm, respectively.
Khan et al., 2017

21. Conclusion
Findings of this study suggests that seed priming with combination of Fe and
Zn (0.3% and 1%) resulted in the better growth and yield of groundnut
(variety BARI-2011) and in case of individual Fe (0.3 %) and Zn (1%)
showed better result in yield and yield related parameters and in growth
parameters.

22. Materials and methods
Seeds of onion cv. CO (On) 5 with 8 % moisture content and 87% germination received
from Horticultural College and Research Institute, Periyakulam, Tamilnadu, were used
for priming experiments. The onion seeds were subjected to various priming
treatments, under room temperature and dried back to the original moisture content.
Saranya et al., 2017

24. Two micronutrients i.e. zinc, manganese were used to study the effect of seed priming on
germination and seedling establishment in carrot. A randomized complete block
experiment was designed with 8 treatments viz. Zn (1%, 1.5% and 2%), Mn (1%, 1.5%
and 2%), water soaked and untreated/dried (control).
Two micronutrient elements i.e. zinc (ZnSO4) and Manganese (MnSO4) were used for
priming purpose. Solutions of 1%, 1.5% and 2% concentrations of each micronutrient
were made.One seed sample was also soaked in water for same period of time. The dried
(non-treated) seed was used as standard. Seed samples were soaked in respective
solutions for 24 hours.
Munawar et al., 2013

25. Zn (1%)
Zn
(1.5%)
Zn (2%)
Mn
(1%)
Mn
(1.5%)
Mn
(2%)
Water
Untreat
ed
Emergence % 72.3 81 67.7 65 66.3 60.3 75 61
Rate of emergence 4.83 5.6 5.6 5.57 4.93 4.8 4.6 3.83
100 seedling wt 4.34 5.728 4.76 4.722 4.753 3.833 4.891 4.112
mean root length 7.033 7.38 7.403 6.967 6.967 7.547 5.7 4.633
Mean shoot length 13.767 14.4 13.947 13.863 14.84 13.313 7.767 7.333
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90

26. 1505.7
1760
1449.1 1363.1 1448.5
1260.4
1006.7
730
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
Vigor index
Vigor index
Conclusion
Carrot seed priming with zinc (1.5%) solution was found to be most beneficial as it
significantly improved emergence percentage, rate of emergence, hundred seedling
weight, mean root length, mean shoot length and vigor index.

27. A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the role of seed priming with Zn in
improving the performance of maize hybrids at Agronomic Research Area,
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad in 2010. The two maize hybrids namely
SIPRA 4444 and SP13 were tested with hydro-priming, priming with 0.5%
ZnSO4, priming with 1.5% ZnSO4, priming with 0.5% Zn EDTA and priming
with 1.5% Zn EDTA.
Soil test result revealed that there was previously less amount of Zn present in
soil i.e 0.56 ppm which was low in amount.
Afzal et al., 2013

28. Conclusion
The results of the present study revealed that priming techniques of zinc gave higher
values in almost all the physiological and yield parameters. The maximum grain yield
(5.35 t ha 1), biological yield (16.69 t ha 1) were found in priming with ZnSO4 @1.5 %
in maize hybrid.

29. In this paper it was investigated that the potential in wheat and chickpea to improve growth
and yield on Zn-deficient soils by increasing the amount of Zn in seeds through on-farm
seed priming. There were several potential advantages of using seed priming to deliver
micronutrients to seeds. Soils are moderately to strongly calcareous with pH 8.1–8.3,
deficient in N and P and available (AB-DTPA extractable) Zn is 0.68 mg/kg.
A series of on-station trials was implemented between 2002 and 2006 to assess
the response of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and chickpea (Cicer arietinum)
to zinc (Zn) added by soaking seeds (priming) in solutions of ZnSO4 before
sowing. Wheat seed was primed for 10 h in 0.3% Zn and chickpea for 6 h in
0.05% Zn.
Harris et al., 2007

31. Harris et al., 2007
The effect of adding zinc sulphate (ZnSO4) to maize (Zea mays L.) growing on
calcareous, Zn deficient soils in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan was
assessed in vitro, on-station and in on-farm trials.
The zinc sulphate was added either as a powder to the soil or by soaking seeds for
16 h in dilute solutions prior to sowing. Preliminary experiments established that maize
seeds could be primed safely and effectively for 16 h with 1% Zn solutions. Non-rinsed
seeds were used in all field trials.

35. To study the effects of seed priming with solutions of Fe and B, each at conc. of
0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2%, and 1.5% Fe + 1% B, on the germination and yield of dill
(Anethum graveolens)
Bahram MIRSHEKARI* Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Tabriz Branch,
Islamic Azad University, Tabriz - IRAN
Mirshekari et al., 2012

36. Material and method ( for priming in lab )
Seeds were soaked in the required aqueous solutions of chemicals as FeSO4.7H2O (Fe 26%, S
11.5%) or H3BO3 (B 17%). Each treatment involved weighing approximately 10 g of seeds into
a plastic cup, adding 20 mL of the priming solution (sufficient to submerge the seeds), and
allowing the seed-and-solution mixture to stay covered with a plastic cup for 12 h.
Soil test report before field exp
The soil was sandy loam with an electrical conductivity of 0.72 dS m–1, pH of 7.9, total nitrogen
of 0.09%, phosphorous and potassium contents of 70 mg kg–1 and 375 mg kg–1, and Fe and B
contents of 6 mg kg–1 and 1 mg kg–1 (Gupta 2008).

38. Seedling dry weight, seedling vigor index and
number of umbels per plant of dill seeds as affected
by micronutrient seed priming. Columns with the
same letter have no significant difference at the 0.05
probability level.

39. An experiment was conducted to study the effect of zinc, boron and arappu leaf powder on
fruit set, seed yield and quality of vegetable cowpea .
Site of work done-: Agricultural Research Station, Dharwad ,Kharif, 2004
Treatments :- The experiment consisted of eight seed pelleting treatments viz., S1 - ZnSO4
@ 250 mg / kg of seed; S2 -Borax @ 100 mg / kg of seed; S3 –Arappu leaf powder @ 250
g / kg of seed; S4 = S1 + S2, S5 = S1 + S3 ,S6 = S2 + S3 , S7 = S1 + S2 + S3, S0 -without
seed pelleting (control),and replicated three times and laid out in Randomized block
design.
Source of seed- Cowpea var Pusa Komal , Department of Horticulture, University of
Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad.
Masuthi et al., 2009

41. The experiment consisted of twenty three different seed polymer coating treatments with
micronutrients having various combinations of ZnSO4, boron, ammonium molybdate,
FeSO4, CaSO4 including control.
Treatment combination
T1- Control
T2- Polymer @ 2 ml per kg of seed
From T3 to T23= T2 i.e (seed polymer coating) + Different micronutrients and
their combinations viz., Zinc sulphate + Borax + Ferrous sulphate + Ammonium
molybdate + Calcium sulphate each @ 1 g per kg.
Dandoti et al., 2017

42. T 23 -seed polymer coating (@ 2 ml/kg) of linseed seeds with the combination of ZnSO4 +
Boron + Ammonium molybdate + FeSO4 + CaSO4 (each @ 1 g/kg) of seed respectively.

43. T 23 -seed polymer coating (@ 2 ml/kg) of linseed seeds with the combination of ZnSO4 +
Boron + Ammonium molybdate + FeSO4 + CaSO4 (each @ 1 g/kg) of seed respectively.

44. Concluding Remarks:-
Micronutrients in crop production are important, and they
deserve equal attention similar to that of macronutrients.
Micronutrient deficiency drastically affect the growth and
inhibits different metabolic and enzymatic activities.
Application of micronutrients significantly increases the yield of
cereal, vegetables, oilseed and pulse crops.
Micronutrient application also enhances the uptake of nutrients
like N,P,K and S.
Though soil and foliar applications of micronutrients are more
prevalent, but application through seed treatments improves the
stand establishment, advances phenological events, and increases
yield and micronutrient grain contents in most cases.

45. References
1. Saranya, N., Renugadevi, J., Raja, K., Rajashree, V. & Hemalatha, G. Seed priming studies for
vigour enhancement in onion CO onion ( 5 ). 6, 77–82 (2017).
2. Harris, D., Rashid, A. & Miraj, G. ‘ On-farm ’ seed priming with zinc in chickpea and wheat in
Pakistan ‘ On-farm ’ seed priming with zinc in chickpea and wheat in Pakistan. (2007) doi:10.1007/s11104-
007-9465-4.
3. Masuthi, D. A., Vyakaranahal, B. S. & Deshpande, V. K. Influence of pelleting with
micronutrients and botanical on growth, seed yield and quality of vegetable cowpea. Karnataka J. Agric. Sci.
22, 898–900 (2009).
4. Afzal, S., Akbar, N., Ahmad, Z. & Maqsood, Q. Role of Seed Priming with Zinc in Improving the
Hybrid Maize ( Zea mays L .) Yield. (2013) doi:10.5829/idosi.aejaes.2013.13.03.1931.
5. Munawar, M., Iqbal, M., State, K., Academy, M. & Hammad, G. Effect of seed priming with zinc ,
boron and manganese on seedling health in carrot ( DaucuscarotaL .). (2013).
6. Gandahi, M. B. U. X., Pahoja, V. M. & Sharif, N. of Seed Priming With Boron on Germination
and Seedling. 3, 183–194 (2013).
7. Khan, T. A. et al. Seed priming with iron and zinc improves growth and yield of groundnut (
Arachis hypogaea L .). 6, 553–560 (2017).
8. Dandoti, K., Shakuntala, N. M. & Macha, S. Effect of seed polymer coating with micronutrients
on growth , seed yield and quality of linseed ( Linum usitatissimum L .). 5, 1879–1883 (2017).
9. Harris, D., Rashid, A., Miraj, G., Arif, M. & Shah, H. ‘On-farm’ seed priming with zinc sulphate
solution-A cost-effective way to increase the maize yields of resource-poor farmers. F. Crop. Res. 102, 119–
127 (2007).
10. Mirshekari, B. Seed priming with iron and boron enhances germination and yield of dill (Anethum
graveolens). Turkish J. Agric. For. 36, 27–33 (2012).