Improvement of lentil germination performance under salt and drought conditions using seed priming treatments

The effect of priming on germination properties of lentil seeds under salt and drought stress conditions was evaluated. A three factor factorial experiment with three replications was employed. The first factor was seed priming treatment (control, hydro-priming and priming with KNO₃); the second, salt and drought stress (NaCl and PEG 6000); and the third was osmotic potential. Germination performance was negatively affected by decreasing osmotic potential. Seeds were able to germinate at all concentrations of NaCl but no significant germination occurred on PEG concentrations ≤ -0.6 MPa for unprimed seeds. Both priming treatments (hydropriming and KNO₃) improved seed germination performance with a clear effect of hydropriming in improving germination properties under salt and drought conditions.