Effect of Seed Priming with GA₃ on Quality Attributes of Harvested Seeds of Sunflower under Mid-Himalayan Region of Himachal Pradesh

To investigate the effect of seed priming with GA₃, on enhancement of seed quality attributes in sunflower, analysis of harvested seeds was done at Department of Seed Science and Technology, Dr YS Parmar UHF, Nauni, Solan during the year 2021–22. Under field conditions, there were ten different seed priming treatments i.e. 8 concentrations of GA₃ (25, 50, 75, 100, 125, 150, 175, 200 ppm) and hydropriming, both for a duration of 12 hours along with control. Among all treatments GA₃ @ 100 ppm significantly enhanced the seed germination (92.25 %), speed of germination (54.66), seedling length (27.84 cm), seedling fresh weight (581.70 mg), seedling dry weight (28.71 mg), SVI-I (2567.79), SVI-II (2648.73), oil content (43.81 %) and resulted in the lowest EC (322.75 μS/m) of harvested seeds. Therefore, seed primed with GA₃ @ 100 ppm for 12 hours could be recommended for improving the seed quality attributes in sunflower.