INFLUENCE OF POTASSIUM CHLORIDE SEED PRIMING ON THE GERMINATION TRAITS OF CANOLA UNDER DIFFERENT SALINITY LEVELS

Abstract

Soil salinity is a serious abiotic component that drastically lowers seed germination, especially in dry and semi-arid areas. In order to enhance germination performance under stressful circumstances, seed priming is thought to be an efficient pre-sowing method. This study aimed to assess how potassium chloride (KCl) seed priming affected canola (Brassica napus L.) germination characteristics at various salinity levels. The experiment was executed at the Carbon Sequestration and Sustainability Laboratory, Department of Agronomy, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Using three replications in a completely randomized design, seeds were halo-primed in a 30 mmol L⁻¹ KCl solution for five hours before germination under five NaCl salinity levels (0, 20, 30, 40, and 50 mmol L⁻¹). The parameters that were recorded were mean germination time (MGT), germination percentage (GP), germination energy (GE), germination rate index (GRI), coefficient of velocity of germination (CVG), and fresh weight (FW). The findings showed that whereas MGT increased, indicating delayed and decreased germination under salt stress, rising salinity levels dramatically decreased FW, CVG, GP, GE, and GRI. Primed seeds under control conditions had the highest FW (0.4233 g), CVG (46.176), and GRI (5.4167), while unprimed seeds at 50 mmol L⁻¹ NaCl had the smallest values. When compared to unprimed seeds, seed priming with KCl greatly enhanced germination performance at all salinity levels, leading to a larger germination percentage and quicker germination. According to findings, KCl seed priming constructively mitigates the detrimental effects of salt on canola germination by improving the physiological mechanisms involved in germination. Consequently, seed priming can be considered to be an easy and affordable method to enhance crop establishment in a saline environment.