Seed germination and seedling establishment are most vital stages in plant growth cycle, playing major role in determining the final density of plants. In drought prone areas, poor seed germination and seedling emergence are the major problems. Seed priming is known to improve germination and seedling emergence under different environmental stresses. Salicylic acid (SA) also plays a major role in regulation of many physiological processes e.g. growth, development, ion absorption and germination of plants. An experiment was carried out in completely randomized design with three replications in the Plant Physiology laboratory of OUAT, Odisha in order to evaluate the effectiveness of seed priming with SA of 100 ppm in improving seed germination, seedling vigor index and growth characteristics of rice grown under deficit water stress. Experimental treatments included 4 rice cultivars (Subhadra, Mandakini, Kalinga III and Khandagiri), 2 levels of seed priming (without SA and with SA of 100 ppm) and 5 levels of water stress, which were imposed by applying 0.0, -0.2, -0.4, -0.6 and -0.8 MPa osmotic solutions of Polyethylene Glycol (PEG)-6000. The results showed severe reduction in germination and seedling growth with increasing stress levels. Seed-priming with SA of 100 ppm not only increased seedling dry weight but also reduced mean germination time compared to the untreated seeds. Seedling growth of SA-primed seeds had significantly higher root and shoot length than non-primed seeds. Such results indicated reduction in severity of the effect of water stress on germination and seedling growth parameters of rice by priming with SA of 100 ppm which ultimately could tolerate deficit moisture conditions to some extent. Among the 4 test rice genotypes, the best alleviation of stress was achieved in the sensitive cv. Kalinga III.

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