To find out the effects of humidification and hardening of rice (Oryza sativa L. cv. Ilpumbyeo) seeds on the germination, both normal and artificially aged seeds with 60% germination rate were humidified at 40, 60, and 80% RHs and 25~circC for five weeks or hydrated for 6, 12, 18, and 24 hours at 25~circC from one to five cycles for hardening. Relative humidity and duration of humidification did not affect the germination rate of normal seeds, while reduced the time to get 50% germination rate (T50 ) by 1.0～1.6 days compared to that of normal seeds at 25~circC . Aged seeds humidified at 40 and 60% RHs did not affect the germination rate and T50 regardless of relative humidity and duration of treatment, while at 80% RH, the germination rate decreased and T50 increased significantly with the duration of humidification. Hardening of normal seeds reduced T50 by 0.7～1.1 days without changes in the germination rate. However, the germination rate and T50 of aged seeds soaked in water for 6, 12, and 18 hours were similar regardless of soaking/drying cycles, while hardening of artificially aged seeds with 1～4 cycles in 24 hours soaking increased the germination rate by 11-16% and reduced T50 by 1.4～2.0 days.

• Sang Hee Yun
• Seung Beom Hong
• Jae Hyeun Kim
• Suk Soon Lee