The impact of seed priming and aging on physiological performance of chickpea under different irrigation treatments

A sub-sample of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L. cv.ILC482) seeds was kept  as control and two other sub- samples were aged at 40 °C for 3 and 5 days. Consequently, three seed lots with different levels of vigor were provided. These seed lots were soaked in distilled water at 15°C for 12 and 18 hours and then dried back to initial moisture content at a room temperature of 20-22°C. Then seeds were sown in the field as split plot factorial based on RCB design. Hydro-priming improved leaf chlorophyll content index of plants from different  seed  lots.  Hydro-priming also  enhanced  stomatal  conductance of plants  from all  seed  lots under all  irrigation  levels,  but this  advantage for plants  from low vigor seed  lots  particularly under limited  irrigations  was higher  than that  for other  treatments. Plants  from high vigor seed  lot under different irrigation treatments had higher relative water content, compared with those from low vigor seed lots. Hydro-priming improved relative water content, membrane stability and grain yield of chickpea plants from different  seed lots  under various  irrigation treatments. It was concluded that hydro-priming to some extent can repair aged seeds and improve their performance under different irrigation treatments.