Abstract
Fresh seeds of tomato cultivars Nagina, Pakit, Riogrande improved and Roma were subjected to osmopriming
treatments with an objective to improve germination and seedling vigor by dormancy breakdown. For
osmopriming seeds were soaked in -1.1 MPa aerated solution of polyethylene glycol (PEG-8000), NaCI and
KN03 for 24 h. All the treatments resulted in improved germination and seedling vigor by dormancy breakdown
compared with untreated seeds; however, highest vigor was observed in seeds subjected to KN03
followed by
NaC!. In all the cultivars, all the seed treatments resulted in lower electrical conductivity of seed leachates than
untreated seeds being lowest in seeds treated with KN03
.
Key words: Osmopriming; tomato; electrical conductivity; seedling vigor; germination
Abbreviations: Mean germination time = MGT, Mean emergence time = MET, Speed of germination index = GI,
Time taken for 50 % germination = Tso. Energy of germination = GE, Final germination percentage = FGP, Final
emergence percentage = FEP, Electrical conductivity = EC, Polyethylene glycol = PEG
