Impact of Seed Hardening Treatment with Nitrate Salts on Nitrogen and Anti Oxidant Defense Metabolisms in Triticum aestivum L. Under Different Sowing Conditions

Impact of Seed Hardening Treatment with Nitrate Salts on Nitrogen and Anti Oxidant Defense Metabolisms in Triticum aestivum L. Under Different Sowing Conditions.

In present investigation, a field experiment was undertaken to find out the effects of nitrate (Mg (NO3.)2 and KNO3) seed hardening (a kind of seed priming) treatment on some biochemical and physiological parameters i.e. chlorophyll, nitrogen ,protein and proline contents, nitrate reductase (NR) and super oxide dismutase (SOD) activities and on yield attributes like harvest index (H.I.), biological yield, grain yield and test weight of wheat (Trticum aestivum L.) varieties ( HUW-234 and HUW-468) sown in different dates i.e. 30th Nov., 15th Dec. and 30th Dec., representing timely sown (D1), late sown (D2) and very late sown (D3) of its cropping seasons respectively. Plants raised from nitrate hardened seeds showed increments in the chlorophyll, nitrogen, protein and proline contents, NR and SOD activities in each date of observation (OD) in both the varieties of wheat. This trend was noted to be maintained in each date of sowing. Peak values for nitrogen, protein, enzyme NR and chlorophyll content observed on 50 and 75 DAS respectively. In between the salts of nitrate Mg (NO3)2 hardened set performed better in comparison to KNO3 treated set in improving H.I., grain yield, biological yield and the test weight but the plants raised from non-hardened (control) seeds always showed poor performance. Nitrate treated sets exhibited an improvement for all the above mentioned parameters even in late and very late sown conditions of wheat in comparison to non-hardened control set. Thus on the basis of results it can be recommended that Mg (NO3)2 is the most suitable salt to be used in enhancing the performance of wheat varieties i.e.HUW-234 and HUW-468 sown in time as well as in late or very late of its cropping season ....