Lentil is an important grain legume crop which is mostly grown on marginal soils that hamper its productivity. Improvement of salt tolerance in lentils is considered to be a useful strategy of utilizing salt-affected lands in an economic manner. This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of seed priming using silicic acid and humic acid both seperately and in combination to improve salt stress tolerance among three different lentil varieties: IPL-316 (tolerant), PSL-9, and PDL-1 (susceptible). The concentrations and durations of treatments were standardized under the normal condition and the salinity stress condition. Salt stress hindered seedling emergence and biomass production and accelerated Na⁺ toxicity and oxidative damage at the seedling stage in untreated seeds. Nevertheless, chemical priming improved early seedling emergence, increased root length, shoot length, and seed vigor index I and II, and reduced the mean germination time. A significant quantitative change in biochemical parameters under normal and salinity stress conditions was observed in IPL-316,viz. Specifically, for IPL-316, the following parameters were observed (values under the normal condition and values under salt stress conditions, respectively): chlorophyll-a (16 and 13 mg/g Fw), chlorophyll-b (25 and 16 mg/g FW), total chlorophyll content (42 and 30 mg/g FW), relative leaf water content (92% and 82%), total soluble sugars (26 and 33 ug/g FW), free amino acid (10 and 7 mg/g FW), total phenol (26 and 24 mg of GAE/g FW), total protein (35 and 29 mg/g FW), carbohydrate (208 and 173 mg/g FW), superoxide dismutase (SOD) (29 and 35 unit/min./g FW), proline (0.28 and 0.32 u mol/g FW), catalase (CAT) (84 and 196 unit/mL/g FW), and peroxidase (POX) (217 and 738 unit/mL/g FW). Furthermore, histochemical analysis of H₂O₂ and O²⁻, micronutrients, and macronutrients also increased, while malondialdehyde (MDA) (0.31 and 0.47 nmol/mL FW) content decreased using silicic and humic acid priming under salt stress conditions. The combination of silicic and humic acids improved seedling growth and reduced oxidative damage in lentil plants under salt stress conditions. The combination of silicic and humic acid priming hastened seedling emergence, seed quality parameters, and biochemical parameters under salt stress over respective control. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of integrated chemical priming in lentils for salinity stress. In conclusion, chemical priming using a combination of silicic and humic acid performed better in terms of seed quality due to enhanced antioxidant machinery, better membrane stability and osmolyte protection, and enhanced nutrient uptake under salt stress conditions.

Amaranth and buckwheat are two pseudo-cereals preferred for their high nutritional value, are gluten free and carry religious importance as fasting food. Germplasm resources are the reservoir of diversity for different traits, including nutritional characteristics. These resources must be evaluated to utilize their potential in crop improvement programs. However, conventional methods are labor-, cost- and time-intensive and prone to handling errors when applied to large samples. NIRS-based machine learning to predict different nutritional traits is applied in different food crops for multiple traits. NIRS prediction models are developed in this study using the mPLS regression technique for oil, protein, fatty acids and essential amino acid estimation in amaranth and buckwheat. Good RSQ external (power of determination) values were obtained for the above traits ranging from 0.72 to 0.929. Ratio performance deviation (RPD) value for most of the traits ranged between 2 and 3, except for valine (1.88) and methionine (3.55), indicating good prediction capabilities in the developed model. These prediction models were utilized in screening the germplasm of amaranth and buckwheat; the results obtained were in good agreement and confirmed the applicability of developed models. It will enable the identification of a trait-specific germplasm as a potential gene source and aid in crop improvement programs.

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a globally important horticultural crop; however, inconsistent germination and weak early seedling vigour remain major bottlenecks to productivity. Seed nanopriming using zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) represents an emerging, eco-compatible strategy for enhancing seed performance by modulating early biochemical and physiological processes. This study investigated the influence of ZnO NPs seed priming on seed quality traits and physio-biochemical responses in three genetically distinct tomato varieties: Pusa Rohini, H-81, and Pusa Prasanskrit. The optimal concentration (50ppm) of ZnO NPs significantly enhanced germination percentage, speed of germination, seedling vigour indices, shoot and root elongation, and biomass accumulation while reducing mean germination time. Biochemically, ZnO nano-primed seedlings exhibited elevated levels of total chlorophyll, proline, and total phenol along with enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities (superoxide dismutase, catalase and peroxidase). A concurrent reduction in malondialdehyde content indicated lower lipid peroxidation and oxidative damage. These effects collectively suggest improved homeostasis and metabolic efficiency. The findings confirm that 50ppm ZnO nanopriming modulates germination-linked signaling and antioxidant defense pathways, accelerating early seedling establishment and enhancing seed quality through improved enzyme activity and seedling development in tomato, while offering a cost effective and environmentally sustainable approach.

Seed priming with nanoparticles (NPs) has gained considerable scientific attention; especially in regulating seed metabolism and signaling pathways, to establish seedling with improved germination in stress condition. Hence, the present study was conducted to understand the effect of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) as a seed priming agent on physio-biochemical and seed quality parameters of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) under various salinity stress level (50 and 100 mM NaCl). Results showed that significant decrease was recorded in seed quality, physiological and biochemical parameters in unprimed seeds under 50 and 100 mM NaCl salinity stress condition, respectively as compared to control (without NaCl condition). However, ZnO NP @ 750 ppm for 6 h duration was found to notably increase the germination (4.8 and 12.6%), seed vigour index I (42.6 and 69%), II (43.1 and 68.1%), photosynthetic pigments (28.9 and 33.1%), TSS (27.0 and 26.5%), soluble protein (14.2 and 15.1%), phenol (40.4 and 34.1%), proline (59.0 and 62.1%) and antioxidant potential, however, the mean germination time (12.6 and 14.1%) was found to decrease under 50 and 100 mM NaCl salinity stress conditions, respectively, as compared to unprimed seeds. The genotype, QA001 performed significantly better than QA002 genotype under both control and salinity stress condition. Overall, seed priming with ZnO NP significantly enhanced chlorophyll content, enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidative defense mechanism and osmotic adjustment, which in turn reduced ROS accumulation and lipid peroxidation in cell membrane in tomato at the early seedling stage.

In the era of global warming, heat stress, particularly at the seedling stage, is a major problem that affects the production and productivity of crops such as mustard that are grown in cooler climates. Nineteen mustard cultivars were exposed to contrasting temperature regimes—20 °C, 30 °C, 40 °C and a variable range of 25–40 °C—and evaluated for changes in physiological and biochemical parameters at the seedling stage to study their role in heat-stress tolerance. Exposure to heat stress showed detrimental effects on seedling growth as revealed by reduced vigor indices, survival percentages, antioxidant activity and proline content. The cultivars were grouped into tolerant, moderately tolerant and susceptible based on the survival percentage and biochemical parameters. All the conventional and three single-zero cultivars were found to be tolerant and moderately tolerant, respectively, while double-zero cultivars were reckoned to be susceptible except for two cultivars. Significant increases in proline content and catalase and peroxidase activities were found associated with thermo-tolerant cultivars. More efficient antioxidant system activity and proline accumulation were noticed in conventional along with three single-zero (PM-21, PM-22, PM-30) and two double-zero (JC-21, JC-33) cultivars that might have provided better protection to them under heat stress than the remaining one single- and nine double-zero cultivars. Tolerant cultivars also resulted in significantly higher values of most of the yield attributing traits. Heat-stress-tolerant cultivars could easily be selected based on the survival percentage, proline and antioxidants at the seedling stage and included as efficient cultivars in breeding programs.

Background: Lentil is second most important nutritionally dense pulse crop of India due to its ability to fix nitrogen, helps to maintain soil fertility and increase yield of other crops grown in rotations. Seed priming is a good innovative technology for improvement of emergence and plant stand under various stress conditions and also could enhance various defense mechanisms in seeds against biotic and abiotic stresses. The present study aimed to examine the effect of seed priming with silicic acid (3 mM @18 hr), humic acid (600 ppm @18 hr) and combination of humic and silicic acid (100 ppm + 1 mM @ 16 hr), that may reduce harmful effect of stress at seedling stage and improve early seedling vigor. Methods: In this field-laboratory investigation during 2022-2023, seed quality and yield quality attributing parameters i.e. germination percentage, seed vigor index-I and II, total chlorophyll, emergence percentage, final plant stand, final plant stand emergence, plant height, secondary branches, tertiary branches, number of pod per plant, average number of pod per plant, pod cluster, seed yield per plot and yield per plot were recorded in both laboratory and field conditions. Result: The results demonstrated a positive effect of seed priming on seed quality parameters against the stress. The highest seed quality and yield quality attributing parameter was recorded in treatment (T5) combination of humic and silicic acid as compare to control. The chemical priming with combination of humic and silicic acid was found to be most effective treatment to enhance plant stand establishment against stress.