Effect of Seed Priming on Germination and Nursery Establishment of Woodfordia fruticosa (L.) Kurz ( Dhawai)

Woodfordia fruticosa (L.) Kurz, (Dhawai) is a traditional medicinal shrub widely present in India and South EastAsian countries. The natural population of this species is very sporadic because of its lesser germination in normal conditions and is now further declining alarmingly due to unscientific harvesting, which requires urgent conservation action for diversifying agro ecosystem and doubling farmers income. Hence, ensuring quality planting materials is must before introducing into farming systems. The viability of the freshly collected seeds of Dhawai was 100 % which decreased with an increase in storage duration. All the priming agents had a positive effect on the enhancement of germination and its parameters. Among all the priming treatments, 500 ppm of GA³ gave the highest germination (94.0 %) with the highest SVI and SVI-mass values of 132.54 and 16.17, respectively. Priming the seeds of Dhawai with different priming treatments improved seedling growth and survival. With 500 ppm GA₃, seedlings had the longest shoot length (4.48 cm), the longest root length (2.16 cm), the widest collar diameter (0.23 mm), and the heaviest dry weight (6.60 mg). Seeds primed with 500 ppm GA₃ and 0.25 % Proline produced seedlings with the highest number of leaves (6.60). Priming with 4 mM glutamine resulted in the highest survival of the Dhawai seedlings. Though there is a high germination and nursery establishment were recorded in both GA₃ and Glutamine seed priming treatments, 24 hours refrigeration treatment can be recommended for easy, effective and eco-friendly mode of quality planting material production in Terai region of West Bengal. In contrast, priming treatments namely longer duration of hot air ovenation, higher concentration of acids, chemicals, hormones and other botanical priming agents deteriorated germination and nursery establishment compared to non-primed seeds.