Effect of Priming Techniques, Planting Depth and Water Stress on Emergence, Vigour and Yield of Sorghum ( Sorghum Bicolor) under Controlled Environments

Climate change is associated with unreliable weather events and this has deleterious effect on crop production. There is need to explore ways that would enhance crop performance for sustainable yields in as climate changes. This study therefore, aimed at assessing the effect of priming techniques, sowing depth and water stress after planting on seedling emergence, vigour and yield in sorghum. Five treatments as follows: two layers of filter paper (whatman No 3) (2LFP), three layers of filter paper (3LFP), two layers of gunny sacks (2LGS), three layers of gunny sacks (3LGS) and the fifth sample was not soaked as a control were tested in Completely Randomised Block Design. The results showed that seed priming x normal watering were different for 2LGS, 2LFP and 3LFP from 3LGS and non-primed. It took lesser days to emergence for the primed under 2LFP, 3LFP and 2LGS under normal watering compared to 3LGS and the non-primed seed. Similarly under stressed, it took lesser days for 2LFP, 2LGS, 3LFP and 3LGS than the non-primed. It took less days (3.5) for seed emergency under 1.5 cm and 2.5 cm that in 3.5 cm depth where emergency happened after 4.9 days. This implies that seed priming triggers early germination processes. An important observation was that irrespective of seed priming to speed up germination, moisture availability after planting is vital for quick emergence. It is concluded that farmers should practice seed priming to improve sorghum performance.