Effect of Soaking Maize Seeds with Selenium and Chitosan on Improving Germination, Vigour and Viability of Seed and Seedling

Abstract

Abstract An experiment was carried out in the Laboratory of Seed Technology-College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences - University of Baghdad – Iraq, to studying the stimulation of maize seeds by soaking with selenium and chitosan to improve the vigour and viability of seeds. By using factorial experiment according to the Complete Random Design (CRD) with three replications. The seeds of two synthetic cultivars of maize (Baghdad 3 and Buhoth 5018) were soaked in selenium solutions at two concentrations (2 and 5 mg L-1), and chitosan (100 and 500 mg L-1) for 10 hours, as well as the two control treatments, which were dried seeds (without soaking) and the seeds soaked in distilled water. Results are shown that low concentration of 2 mg L-1 give highest mean were recorded in the percentage of germination in the first and final counts, the mean time germination, length of root and the plumule, the seedling vigour index, germination speed, and dry weight of the seedling. Seeds soaking with the solutions containing chitosan at both concentrations did not give significant results compared to the selenium treatments, both cultivars differed significantly in some germination characteristics and the vigour and viability of the seed: (length of root and the plumule, dry weight of the seedling). The results also showed a significant effect of the interaction between seed soaking treatments and cultivar on all studied traits. We conclude from this study that treatments of stimulating seeds by soaking them with distilled water and solutions of selenium and chitosan positively affected germination and its characteristics, so we recommend using low concentrations of selenium and chitosan to improve seed germination, vigour, and viability of the seedling.