Abstract
Poor germination is one of the factors responsible for lower pea yield in Pakistan. Seed priming can be employed
to solve the problem. This study was executed to investigate the possibility of improvement in germination and
early seedling growth by seed priming in two pea cultivars climax and PF-400. For priming, seeds were soaked in
aerated 0.5, 1 and 2% solutions of ethanol, and 1% solution each of ascorbate and salicylicate for 12 h at 27 ± 2.
Both pea cultivars behaved similarly with slight differences. Priming in ethanol performed better than in ascorbate
and salicylicate. Priming in ethanol and salicylicate solutions improved the germination rate and uniformity, and
early seedling growth. Priming in 0.5% ethanol was at the top in improving time to 50% emergence, emergence
energy, emergence percentage, root and shoot length, and seedling fresh and dry weights in both the cultivars.
However, Priming in 2% ethanol performed the best in cultivar PF-400 for number of leaves and root length.
