Table 4 Seed priming treatment of cotton seeds

1

Hydropriming

• Hydropriming of cotton seeds increased the germination rate of 30% under low temperature stress condition (12 °C) when compared with untreated seed

(Casenave et al. 2007)

• Hydropriming at 25 °C for 4–6 h increased the germination rates for Maraş-92, Sayar-314, and Stoneville-468 by 54%, 17%, and 6%, respectively

• Hydropriming at 5 °C for a longer time decreased the germination rate

(Bolek et al. 2013)

• Hydropriming of cotton seeds increased the germination by 43% at 32–38.5 °C and 34% at 25 °C

(Kumar et al. 2022b)

2

Halopriming

• Salt priming of cotton seeds improved seed germination and field emergence under salt stress, with the control showing a germination rate of 70% and emergence rate of 53.1%, while seeds primed with NaCl had germination and emergence rates of 89% and 84%, respectively

(Lin et al. 2006)

3

Osmo-priming

• Osmo-priming of cotton seeds with mannitol for six hours increased the germination percentage compared with control and more than six hours led to a decrease in germination percentage.

• Osmo-priming with –0.5 MPa solution of mannitol at 16 °C for 6 or 12 h may be recommended for enhanced germination of cotton seeds under suboptimal conditions.

• The control had a germination percentage of 64% and the seeds primed with mannitol for 6 h had a germination rate of 75% at 12 °C

(Papastylianou et al. 2012)

4

Hydropriming and KNO₃

• Hydropriming and KNO₃ priming increased the germination, seedling emergence, and dry weight

• At normal conditions, the final germination percentage of control and treated seeds are 91% and 99%, respectively

• At a salinity level of 8 dsm⁻¹, the control had a germination rate of 27% and the seeds primed with water and KNO₃ had a germination rate of 57% and 66%, respectively

• Similarly, at salinity level of 8 dsm⁻¹, the control had an emergence rate of 20% and the seeds primed with water and KNO₃ had an emergence rate of 48% and 61%, respectively

(Ahmadvand et al. 2012)

• Seed priming with KNO₃ (1.5%, mass fraction) for 20 h increased the germination index, percentage, and decreased the mean germination time

(Narejo et al. 2023)

5

Hydrogen peroxide

• Seed priming with H₂O₂ and KCl enhanced seedling germination and growth under moisture stress, with the control showing a germination rate of 35%, while seeds primed with hydrogen peroxide and KCl exhibited germination rates of 45% and 42%, respectively, on the 3rd day

(Venoor et al. 2014)

6

KNO₃ priming

• Among different priming agents, KNO₃ induced the highest seed germination and developed vigorous cotton plants at low temperatures

• At 18 °C, the control had a germination rate of 93% and the seeds treated with KNO₃ had a germination rate of 98%

(Çokkizgin et al. 2015)

• Cotton seeds primed with KNO₃ (4%, mass fraction) demonstrated maximum germination index

• Cotton seeds primed with distilled water showed increased root length, fresh weight, dry weight, and germination index under low temperatures

(Çokkizgin et al. 2015)

• Halopriming with KNO₃ increased seed germination (83%), seedling emergence (90%), and yield (17%)

• The control had a germination rate of 60% and the seeds primed with KNO₃ had a germination rate of 83%

• It was observed that five days after sowing, the control had a seedling emergence of 65% and the seeds primed with KNO₃ had a germination rate of 92%

(Awan et al. 2023)

• Cotton seed priming with KNO₃ (5 g·L^-1) and glycine betaine (100 mg·L^-1) significantly increased the germination, yield, and growth rate under drought stress conditions.

• Compared with the control, seeds primed with KNO₃ showed increases of 54%, 36%, and 125% in dry shoot matter, cotton yield, and net photosynthetic rate, respectively, while seeds primed with glycine betaine exhibited corresponding increases of 31%, 11%, and 79%

(Khalequzzaman et al. 2024)

7

Warm water and gibberellic acid

• Among different priming agents, gibberellic acid gave the highest germination compared with the control

• Gibberellic acid and coconut water increased the height, flowering, and germination compared with the control

• After 2 weeks of sowing, the control had a germination rate of 41% and the seeds primed with gibberellic acid had a germination rate of 83%

(Chuwang et al. 2018)

9

Osmo-priming and hydro-priming

• Hydropriming of cotton seeds for 16 h maintained its effect after 6 months of storage

• Osmo-priming of cotton seeds for 41 h in mannitol maintained its effect after 12 months of storage

• Osmo-priming of cotton seeds in mannitol gave the highest germination rate and vigour index

• The mean germination time for control, seeds hydro-primed for 16 h, and seeds primed with mannitol for 41 h are 2.63, 2.17, and 2.17 days at 25 °C

(Toselli et al. 2014)

• Osmo-priming of cotton seeds gave the highest growth percentage, growth rate, and dry weight of seedlings compared with the control

• Under drought stress, the control had a germination percentage of 71% and a vigour index of 200, while seeds osmo-primed with Si showed the highest germination percentage of 95% and vigour index of 1000

(Mehrabadi 2020)

10

IAA

• IAA priming increased seed germination, seedling growth, and vigour growth

• The control had a germination rate of 48% and the treated cotton seeds had a germination rate of 76% on the first day and 83% on the seventh day

(Zhao et al. 2020)

11

Brassinosteroid

• Brassinosteroid treatment increased seedling vigour, growth, dry matter weight, lateral root, and cotyledon opening

• At a salt concentration of 200 mmol·L^–1, the control had a germination rate of 40% and the seeds treated with 1 µmol·L^–1 of brassinosteroid had a germination rate of 80%

(Chakma et al. 2021)

12

Biopriming

• Cotton seeds bio-primed with plant growth promoting rhizobacteria increased the growth, boll number, yield, and quality

• The untreated seeds had a shoot and root length of 36.3 cm and 13.5 cm. The bio-primed seeds had an increased shoot and root length by 29% and 45%, respectively.

(Ragadevi et al. 2021)

13

Cow urine

• Cotton seed priming with cow urine (6%, mass fraction) demonstrated highest seed vigour and maximum germination

• The control had a germination rate of 70% and the seeds primed with cow urine had a germination rate of 83%

• Similarly, the control had a seed vigour index mass of 77.46 and the seeds primed with cow urine had a seed vigour index mass of 137.72

(Kumar et al. 2022a)

14

Endophyte biopriming

• Endophyte priming of cotton seeds improved seed germination and vigour, with the Phule Dhanwantary cultivar showing a germination rate of 90% compared with 46% in the control, and the Suraj cultivar showing 93% compared with 80% in the control

(Verma et al. 2022)

15

Sodium nitroprusside and hydrogen peroxide

• Cotton seeds primed with sodium nitroprusside and hydrogen peroxide enhanced the germination under stress

• Stress conditions induced oxidative stress in the seed which activated the antioxidant system and hence enhanced growth

(Guaraldo et al. 2023)

16

Gibberellin

• Seed priming with gibberellin increased the germination potential, index, rate and decreased the mean time of germination at low temperatures

• At a temperature of 12–15 °C, the control had a germination rate of 30% and the seeds treated with gibberellin had a germination rate of 62%

(Xia et al. 2023)