Effect of seed priming on moisture stress tolerance and yield attributes of onion in Adi-Gudom, Northern Ethiopia

Onion is an important vegetable crop in Ethiopian diet and is one of the common vegetable crops produced in the country. The yield and quality of onion dramatically decreases when the crop doesn't get enough amount of irrigation water. Seed priming is reported to be one of the treatments that has an effect on seed germination and increase drought tolerance of crops. This experiment was, therefore, initiated to evaluate the effect of seed priming with KCl on the moisture stress tolerance of onion at Adi-Gudom, Northern Ethiopia. The experiment was a factorial combination with treatments laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design. The priming experiment included four different KCl concentrations (0, 0.15, 0.30, and 0.60M) and two irrigation regimes (stressed and non-stressed). Irrigation was scheduled using CROPWAT software. The water stress was then applied at the bulb formation stage (this stage is reported to be the most sensitive stage to water stress). The stressed plants were allowed to get only one-third of their water requirement as determined using CROPWAT. The results of the current experiment revealed that water stress at bulb formation stage (midstage) of onion caused a significant yield reduction. Seed priming, however, didn't cause any significant benefit in moisture stress tolerance of onion.