Plant Soil Environ., 2025, 71(9):595-603 | DOI: 10.17221/260/2025-PSE

Improvement of lucerne germination and seedling performance through a combined seed priming methodOriginal Paper

Ondĝej Szabó1, Michaela Kovandová1, Zuzana Hrevuıová ORCID...1, Saniya Tyulendinova ORCID...2, Josef Hakl ORCID...1
1 Department of Agroecology and Crop Production, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
2 S. Seifullin Kazakh Agrotechnical Research University, Astana, Kazakhstan

Seed priming is an effective seed treatment procedure and has been shown to improve the emergence of seedlings in various crops. However, there is a lack of systematic research for these techniques in lucerne (Medicago sativa L.), especially for combinations of priming agents. This study aimed to screen 22 biologically active compounds and then to evaluate the potential of combinations of these agents, assessing the dynamics of germination, seedling length, and performance, in a pot experiment for selected combinations. About half of the screened agents increased germination rate (on the 3rd day) or seedling length (from 8% to 75%), where chitosan and green tea improved total germination and seedling formation. The selected combination of priming agents improved only seedling growth compared to hydropriming and control, where the combination of fermented weed juice + green tea and H2O2 + thyme infusion seems effective (+61%). In the pot experiment, only a combination of mixed priming with the coating method led to improved lucerne root growth (+33% compared to the untreated control). These results can contribute to the adoption of easily available, cost-effective, and sustainable treatments with the potential to accelerate germination and lucerne seedling development.

Keywords: legume; alfalfa; abiotic stress; bioactive stimulants; early growth enhancement

Received: June 12, 2025; Revised: July 28, 2025; Accepted: August 4, 2025; Prepublished online: September 22, 2025; Published: September 26, 2025  Show citation

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Szabó O, Kovandová M, Hrevuıová Z, Tyulendinova S, Hakl J. Improvement of lucerne germination and seedling performance through a combined seed priming method. Plant Soil Environ. 2025;71(9):595-603. doi: 10.17221/260/2025-PSE.
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