Seed priming is a pre-sowing treatment which leads to a physiological state that enables seed to germinate more efficiently. Priming often involves soaking seed in predetermined amounts of water or limitation of the imbibition time. The imbibition rate could be somehow controlled by osmotic agents such as PEG and referred as osmopriming. Halopriming implies the use of specific salts while "hormopriming" relies on the use of plant growth regulators. A better understanding of the metabolic events taking place during the priming treatment and the subsequent germination should help to use this simple and cheap technology in a more efficient way. The general purpose of seed priming is to partially hydrate the seed to a point where germination processes are begun, but they would exhibit rapid germination when re-imbibed under normal or stress conditions. A lot of work has been done on seed priming and results of these studies indicate well the importance of priming to get a good crop stand in many crops.

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