Influence of furolan-treated seeds on sowing characteristics of winter wheat cultivars

The study was carried out at the All-Russian Rice Research Institute, Belozerny, Krasnodar, Russia in 2009. The seeds of three varieties of winter wheat namely; Bat’ko, Deya and Krasnodarskaya 99 were grown in different concentrations of growth regulators namely; Furolan, (2-furyl-2)-1,3-dioxolane, gibberellins (plant hormone) and water as control. The influence of the growth regulators on seed germination energy and germinating power were determined. The effect of the regulators was higher in all the experimental variants than in the control. However, this increase was insignificant (LSD_0.05 = 6.88). Application of Furolan in concentration of 0.001 and 0.0001% in Deya’s variety decreased germination energy in comparison with that of concentration 0.01%. Weak concentration virtually did not stimulate germination energy of seeds. The different varieties investigated in this study showed very positive response to growth regulators at different stages of ontogenesis of the plants. The effect of the factor B (growth regulators) on the formation of sprout length was 11.7%. Interaction of factors A and B was very small; its effect was only 0.6%.