Impact assessment of bio priming mediated nutrient use effciency for climate resilient agriculture

Abstract

Since environmental stress negatively affects crop growth and productivity throughout the world and the energy crisis threatens the sustainability of both irrigated and rain fed system, it is becoming increasingly evident that priming techniques can enhance and improve the performance of crops without deteriorating the natural resource base. Among the available options, on-farm seed priming is a simple, proven technology that has been an age old practice, tested, and refned in laboratories, in experimental plots, and by farmers themselves in their felds. It’s easy to use with a wide range of crops in many different farming conditions. Farmers in the indo-gangetic plains of Uttar Pradesh, India prime rice, wheat, maize and pulse seed before sowing. This simple method is now spreading to other parts of the country as well. Although priming with water or tiny amounts of phosphorus, boron and zinc is common but use of microbes can make a huge difference. Biopriming is becoming a potentially prominent technique to induce profound changes in plant characteristics and to encourage desired attributes in plants growth associated with fungi and bacteria coatings. Biological factors such as fungi and bacteria are used in biopriming which includes: fungi and antagonist bacteria and the most important of all are Trichoderma, Pesodomonas, Glomus, Bacillus, Agrobacterium and Gliocladium. Therefore, seed priming in combination with low dosage of bio control agents has been used to improve the plant performance, stabilize the effcacy of biological agents in the present set up of agriculture and reducing dependency on chemical inputs.