Effect of chemical priming on growth characteristics of few varieties of rice (Oryza sativa L.) under moisture stress condition

A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of chemical priming treatments on growth performance of rice varieties during kharif season of 2019 at poly house of College of Agriculture, Central Agricultural University, Imphal. Treatment consists of three variety of rice viz. CAU-R1, keibu-chiro and Kiophou and two priming chemical viz. 2% KNO3, and 50 ppm Salicylic acid with one control (no priming). Water stress were created in each pot by maintaining soil moisture level at 32% by using soil moisture meter. The results revealed that seeds primed with 2% KNO3 had significantly higher in plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf length, leaf area and leaf area index as compared to 50 ppm salicylic acid and control. Among varieties, CAU-R1 showed greater in number of leaves per plant, leaf area and leaf area index. However, plant height and leaf length was found maximum in Kiophou variety.