| Summary: | Maize (Zea mays), the second most staple crop in Nepal is predominantly cultivated in the hills during the spring and summer, thus, facing moisture stress during the early seedling stages. Seed priming has proved to be an effective technique to resolve the issue. Early development response of maize due to eight different seed priming levels viz. hydropriming, three PEG concentrations (10%, 15%, 20%), three GA3 concentrations (50 ppm, 75 ppm, 100 ppm) and control exposed to non-stress and stress environment using 10% PEG was studied in a two-factor factorial CRD replicated thrice. The study was conducted in the Agronomy Laboratory of Lamjung Campus. GA3 was effective in improving the germination percentage with 91.6% germination at 100 ppm. However, under the stressful environment, there was a significant 16% reduction in germination. GA3 @ 50 ppm had the lowest mean germination time (MGT) under the non-stress environment, while, increased GA3 concentration resulted in quicker germination under the stress environment. A similar trend of increased concentration favoring quicker germination was observed for PEG as well. Non-stress environment showed a balanced root: shoot ratio (1.00) while the stress environment increased the R:S ratio (1.51) considering the progressive increase in root development under stress. The lowest SVI was observed in the seeds treated with 20% PEG in both environments. GA3 priming has a better impact on germination under stress environment for its effect in countering the germination inhibitors and accelerating the metabolic plasticity over the osmotic adjustments provided by PEG-priming.
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