SEED PRIMING: A MULTIFACETED AND COST-EFFECTIVE TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE CROP PRODUCTION

Seed priming is a cost-effective technique which involves prior seed exposure to an abiotic stress that makes the seed more resistant to future lethal exposure. Seed priming stimulates pre-germination metabolic processes and makes the seed ready for sprouting. It helps to up regulate the antioxidant enzyme activitiesand repairs membrane damage. These changes promote seed vigour and emergence under abiotic stress. This article aims to review the different priming processes as well as the physiological, biochemical and molecular changes induced by priming that lead to synchronized seed germination. Plants’ responses to some priming agents under abiotic stress have been reported based on recent investigations.