This work was carried out with the objective of testing the efficiency of the water stress test of the evaluation of physiological quality of grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) seeds. Six lots of basic seeds of the cultivar IPA-1011 were analyzed by the following tests: germination, first count, cold without soil test, accelerated aging, electrical conductivity, field emergency, and seedling length under hydric stress at 0, - 0.3, - 0.6 and -0.9MPa matric potentials. The trials were carried out at the Seed Laboratory at the experimental field of EMBRAPA-CPATSA, Petrolina - PE, in a completely randomized design with four replications. The results indicated that the germination test under water stress of -0,6MPa can be used to estimate the performance of grain sorghum seeds under unfavorable soil water conditions.
Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench; polyethylene glycol; test vigor
