Comparative effects of organic and inorganic seed priming agents on germination, growth and yield of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.).
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Date
2026
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Busitema University
Abstract
Seed priming is a simple and cost-effective pre-sowing technique that enhances germination and early crop performance, however, comparative information on the effectiveness of locally available organic and inorganic priming agents under Ugandan conditions is limited. This study evaluated the comparative effects of organic and inorganic seed priming agents on the germination, growth, and yield of sunflower. Field experiments were conducted at two locations using a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Six seed priming treatments comprising moringa leaf extract, neem leaf extract, urea, sodium chloride, hydropriming, and an unprimed control were evaluated. Germination characteristics, vegetative growth traits and yield components were measured. Data were subjected to combined analysis of variance and linear mixed-effects models, while Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine relationships between seed yield and selected agronomic traits. Seed priming enhanced germination, vegetative growth, yield attributes, biological yield, harvest index, and seed yield compared to the unprimed control. In general, organic priming agents performed better than the inorganic priming agents across the parameters evaluated. Of the various priming treatments evaluated, moringa leaf extract exhibited the best germination percentage (87.0%), vigour index (1096.71), biological yield (7162.73 kg ha⁻¹), harvest index (0.402) and seed yield (2734.00 kg ha⁻¹) followed by neem leaf extract, while urea and sodium chloride showed intermediate performance. The unprimed control recorded the worst performance. Seed yield had positive correlation with germination percentage, chlorophyll content, leaf area index, plant height, head diameter and thousand-seed weight but negative correlation with mean germination time and days to 50% flowering. From these findings, it is clear that seed priming is an important technique that can be used to improve the establishment, growth and yield of sunflower in Uganda. The organic seed priming, especially with moringa leaf extract, outperformed the inorganic priming agents in all the parameters evaluated and thus represents a cheap, sustainable and readily available technique for sunflower production.
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Undergraduate research report
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Chemutai, K. (2026). Comparative effects of organic and inorganic seed priming agents on germination, growth and yield of sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.). [Unpublished undergraduate research report]. Busitema University.