Evaluating Seed Priming Techniques In Direct Seeded Fine Rice - Tapa blanda

Thousands of years ago, people from east to south Asia settled throughout river deltas and domesticated wild rice and now it is the staple food for seventeen countries in Asia and the pacific, countries in Africa, seven countries in Latin, America and Caribbean and one is the near east.Rice is the life-line of Asia. More than 90% of the world's rice crop is produced here. Paddling is done in rice for easier transplanting and to reduce water infiltration. It destroys the soil physical structure, which has implications for the following wheat crop. Direct seeding is pretty alternative to transplanting but there are certain constraints facing to adopt this methodology. Weeds and rice emerge the same time and this causes a shift in weed flora towards predominantly grass-weeds. Germination is a problem for direct seeding in Rice. Seed priming can increase the speed and uniformity of germination when the seeds are subsequently planted. Osmopriming is a special type of seed priming that has been used to describe the soaking of seeds in aerated low water potential solutions.It has been successfully introduced in cereals including rice.

Muhammad Tauseef is a Research Officer in Punjab Agricultural Research Wing, Pakistan; working on weeds and plant biology as a Plant Physiologist and Production Expert, graduated from Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. He has remarkable experience since from 2006 on rice and other agricultural crops.