Asian Research Journal of Current Science

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of priming rice seeds with zinc (Zn) and nitrogen (N) solutions on germination and seedling vigor. The experiment was conducted from March to May 2024 at the Laboratory of the Department of Agronomy, Yezin Agricultural University, Myanmar, utilising a 4 × 3 factorial arrangement in a Completely Randomised Design (CRD) with four replications. In this experiment, factor A was four levels of nitrogen (N): N0 = 0% Urea (0 g N/100 mL), N1 = 0.10% Urea (0.046 g N/100 mL), N2 = 0.20% Urea (0.092 g N/100 mL), N3 = 0.30% Urea (0.138 g N/100 mL). Additionally, three levels of zinc (Zn) were applied: Zn0 = 0% ZnSO₄·7H₂O, Zn1 = 0.07% ZnSO₄·7H₂O, Zn2 = 0.14% ZnSO₄·7H₂O as factor B. The results indicated that the N2 treatment produced the highest germination percentage, vigor index, and shoot length, followed by N1 and N3 after 14 days of treatment. The N1 resulted in the greatest root length, root number, shoot dry weight, and root dry weight compared to N2 and N3. Conversely, N0 had the lowest performance in terms of seedling emergence and vigor. Among the Zn treatments, Zn1 achieved the highest germination percentage, vigor index, and shoot length compared to Zn2. However, Zn2 showed the highest root length, root number, shoot dry weight, and root dry weight among all the Zn treatments, while Zn0 resulted in the lowest seedling parameters across all treatments. The interaction of N and Zn treatments demonstrated enhanced germination, vigor, shoot length, root length, root number, shoot dry weight, and root dry weight. In the absence of priming with either Zn or N solutions, the germination and vigor of rice seedlings were significantly lower than those of others. The N0Zn0 treatment exhibited the poorest seedling parameters. In conclusion, priming rice seeds with N and Zn was effective in improving germination, seedling vigor, and overall seedling performance.