Acta Univ Latv (2005) 691: 111–119

Effect and after-effect of barley seed coating with phosphorus on germination, photosynthetic pigments and grain yield

Abstract

Phosphorus is an important macronutrient for barley, but commonly it has low availability in soils. Therefore, seed coating with readily available phosphorus is used in agricultural practice. The aim of this work was to investigate the influence of barley seed coating with phosphorus on germination, the content of pigments of green plastids in shoots, the seed yield and the presence of an after-effect on the second generation. The coating of barley seeds with phosphorus depressed germination in the beginning of the development of plants, but there was a positive influence of the coating on the amount of pigments of green plastids in the shoots, and the yield of barley seeds increased by 3 to 91 %. The treatment of barley seeds with the phosphorus influenced positively the physiological activity of next generation seeds. The usage of phosphorus-treated barley seeds is effective: physiological activity of the seeds increases as well as the yield of the seeds. Also, phosphorus uptake is improved, which contributes to better environmental protection.