Effect of presowing seed hardening treatment on seed quality, crop growth and seed yield in rice cv. IR 64

A study was carried out to investigate the effect of pre-sowing seed hardening treatment with different chemicals such as 1% CaCl2, 1% KCl, 1% KNO3 and 1% NaCl and organics such as 10% cow dung and 3% panchakavya on seed quality, crop growth and seed yield in rice cv. IR 64. Presowing seed hardening treatment significantly increased the seed quality characteristics and yield attributing characters when compared to untreated seeds in major crops. From the result, it was revealed that 1% CaCl2 seed hardening treatment enhanced the seed quality characters such as germination percentage, speed of germination, shoot length, root length, seedling length, dry matter production, vigour index and yield attributing characters such as number of productive tillers per plant, number of seeds per panicle and seed yield per plant. Hence, rice seeds hardened with 1% CaCl2 may be recommended to get higher seed yield and seed quality.