Effect of soybean seed priming on germination energy

Six varieties were chosen from three different maturity groups: Galina and NS Princeza (0), Sava and NS Apolo (I), and Rubin and NS Zita (II) in order to examine the effect of priming on germination energy depending on soybean seed age. The seeds were produced in the period from 2012 to 2014, i.e., one- to three-year-old seeds were used. The following treatments were used for priming: distilled water - hydropriming (H2O), ascorbic acid 250 mg/l (ASA), folic acid 15 mg/l (Fol.), hydrogen peroxide 1% (H2O2), and control - non-treated seeds (C). Results showed that the effects of priming depended on the variety, seed age, as well as on the applied treatment. Some varieties reacted to priming very well, while others had an inhibited reaction, so germination energy was significantly reduced. Rubin variety had the most favourable reaction, whereby all treatments of this variety led to an increase of quality, with an average increase of 2-8%. The application of primers on one-year-old soybean seeds had a weaker effect than on two- and three-year-old seeds. However, one-year-old seeds had minor oscillations in quality due to priming. The application of priming on one-year-old seeds can lead to an increase or decrease of germination energy by 3%, while two- and three-year-old seeds reached 7%. The results showed that seed priming in ascorbic acid had a positive effect, while the application of other primers did not affect the value of germination energy, nor did it lead to a decrease of its value. Ascorbic acid activity led to the largest increase in the quality of three-year-old soybean seeds by 2.83%, while the increase in the quality of two- and three-year-old seeds was 1.87%. Therefore, we can conclude that there is no universal use of one single primer, as it might not be suitable for each particular variety and can ultimately result in the seed quality decrease.