Biology and Biotechnology of Environmental Stress Tolerance in Plants, Volume 3: Sustainable Approaches for

Enhan

Roychoudhury (Ed.)

© 202

ylor & Francis)

with CRC Press (Ta

nmental Stress Tole

ss, Inc

ca

cing Enviro

4 Apple A

demic Pre

rance. Aryadeep

. Co-published

CHAPTER 5

Magneto-Priming: A Novel Technique

Towards Improved Seed Germinability

and Stress Responses: From Basics to

Contemporary Advancements

KUNTAL BERA,^1,2 SUBIR GHOSH,² SANJOY SADHUKHAN,² and

PUSPENDU DUTTA^1*

1Department of Seed Science and Technology, Uttar Banga Krishi

Viswavidyalaya, Pundibari – 736165, Cooch Behar, West Bengal, India

2Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, Department of Botany,

Raiganj University, Raiganj – 733134, Uttar Dinajpur, West Bengal, India

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The present era of precision agriculture demands that every seed will germi­

nate and develop into a healthy plant. Improved emergence and uniform crop

establishment in the field are the most critical that determine the final yield.

But seed germination and early seedling growth are often impeded due to the

frequent occurrence of sub-optimal conditions, particularly under the context

of global climate change. Seed priming has been recognized long before as

an effective technique that can potentially improve seed germination, ensure

good plant establishment, and ultimately result in enhanced crop productivity

in a wide range of environments. Nowadays, the physical means of seed

priming are extensively being explored due to having several advantages

over conventional seed priming methods as the later ones mostly rely on

restricted hydration of the seed until the germination process starts and raise