Effect of hydropriming on the growth performance of Three Vegetables; Corchorus olitorius, Celosia argentea and Abelmoschus esculentus

Abstract

Vegetables constitute an important part of human diets. They contain nutrients that are necessary for proper growth, development and health in humans. Cultivation of vegetables is therefore important. Priming is one of the methods employed to improve the germination, growth and yield of major crop plants. Two accessions each of three vegetables (Celosia argentea, Abelmoschus esculentus and Corchorus olitorius) were pre – treated with priming dehydration treatment prior to sowing. The experimental design was a Randomized Complete Design (RBD) with seven treatment levels and two replications. The treatments are; primed dried and primed not dried and unprimed which served as control (untreated seeds). Results indicated that traits such as leaf number, plant heights, and leaf area were significantly affected by priming treatment at (p<0.05) probability level. The priming treatment had significant effects on the vegetables as the primed dried and primed not dried seeds had greater increase in height, leaf number and as well as leaf area. Celosia argentea and Corchorus olitorius were seen to have higher vegetative growth with primed seeds. Priming treatments improved the growth conditions and hence the yield of the crops. ><0.05) probability level. The priming treatment had significant effects on the vegetables as the primed dried and primed not dried seeds had greater increase in height, leaf number and as well as leaf area. Celosia argentea and Corchorus olitorius were seen to have higher vegetative growth with primed seeds. Priming treatments improved the growth conditions and hence the yield of the crops.