A Sustainable Strategy on Plant Growth and Improvement of Stress Tolerance: Priming Technique

Priming technique is based on the soaking of seed in water or a solution with low osmotic potential under a certain time and temperature before sowing, and re-drying to initial humidity level. Primed seeds might be sown directly or stored at low temperatures for a long time without losing the pragmatic effects of priming applications. In general, the most commonly used priming techniques can be listed as hydro-priming, osmo-priming, halo-priming, solid matrix priming, hormonal priming, nano-priming, and bio-priming. The priming technique contributes to improving germination characteristics, stimulating plant growth and crop yield, and the development of tolerance against various biotic and abiotic stress factors. The density of the used solution, seed/solution ratio, priming time, aeration, ambient temperature, drying, the temperature of the storage environment, and storage time are the main factors that directly affect the success of priming applications. Studies carried out to combine the seed coating technology with the priming technique are extremely important in terms of a sustainable approach in agriculture. In addition, studies on the use of bio-priming applications in seed coating techniques and on extending the storage period are increasingly continuing. Thus, it is predicted that the reduction of chemical inputs and their damages to the ecosystem will be the initial of a revolutionary change. The purposes of this review are to; i) evaluate the possibilities of using priming techniques on plant growth and improvement of stress tolerance, ii) provide an understanding of the stress mechanism in plants and the advantages of priming techniques in terms of stress management, and iii) Examine the use of new technological and scientific applications with priming technique.