Priming is a technique applicable to seeds of various plant species; however, for soybean seed there is little available information correlating such technique to the storage fungi. The objective of this study was to assess hydropriming on soybeans seeds and correlate this technique to occurrence of such fungi. For this, soon after acquisition the soybean seeds, cv. M-SOY 7908 RR, were characterized by: moisture content, mechanical damage, viability (seed germination and seedling emergence) and seed health. A completely randomized experimental design was used with treatments arranged into a factorial scheme 2 × 2 [2 levels of incidence of storage fungi (low and high) × 2 hydropriming (with and without) ]. After application of treatments, the seeds were analyzed by: moisture content, viability (seed germination and seedling emergence) and vigor (first count and accelerated aging). The hydropriming is beneficial to improve the quality of soybean seeds with low incidence of storage fungi, with increments on speed germination (first count) and seed germination after accelerated aging test. The high incidence of microorganisms can reduce the hydropriming benefits.
priming; Aspergillus spp.; Penicillium spp.; Glycine max