Water is pervasively involved in the life cycle of seeds. Water in the environment, either as a vapor or liquid, directly affects seed moisture status. This article is devoted to the study of seed moisture status in postharvest events. Two topics are discussed: imbibitional chilling injury and upgrading of primed seeds. Imbibitional chilling injury is a physiological disorder that occurs in large-seeded legumes as well as other important agronomic seeds. Imbibitional chilling injury has been shown to reduce the survival rate of seedlings. Surviving seedlings have less emergence force per seedling and require a longer period to generate maximum force. Rapid hydration has been shown to induce injury at a particular seed moisture level. Methods of regulating the hydration rate were explored to alleviate chilling injury in snap beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Plant breeding lines with the semihard seed characteristic delayed the onset of imbibition when the initial moisture level was low (8%). Coating seeds with polymeric films to complement the permeable testa retarded the imbibition rates. Both approaches alleviated chilling injury and improved seedling establishment under stressful conditions. Seed priming is a technique for elevation of seed moisture content before sowing. Primed seeds generally emerge more quickly than nonprimed seeds, especially under stressful environmental conditions. An additional merit of this technique is that it gives access to seeds with elevated moisture content. Various approaches may be employed to condition seeds after priming, but before redesiccation. Discarding the low-density fractions of primed tomato and lettuce seeds improved the percentage of germination compared with nonprimed seeds. Physiological mechanisms are presented to explain the association of density with seed viability in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.).

The thermoinhibition at 35 (3,13,14) or an osmoticum (1,3,12). When cytokinins and ethylene are used together, the stress is alleviated in a synergistic fashion (3,13,14). The germination potential of lettuce seed decreases with an increase in temperature, and at 35°C the potential is less than that needed for removing the restraining force of the seed coats (15). The addition of KIN2 generates a germination potential which is high enough to remove the restraint at 35°C, thus overcoming the thermoinhibition (15). At temperatures above 32°C, ethylene is ineffective or less effective than cytokinin in overcoming the thermoinhibition (1,13,14). However, the requirement of cytokinin or ethylene for overcoming thermoinhibition and osmotic restraint can be eliminated or diminished by removing or weakening the seed coats (1,15). ' Permanent address:

Seeds (intact or slit) of lettuce (Luctuca sativa L.) cultivars with greater ability to produce ethylene germinated better under stressful conditions. Highly significant correlations were found between ethylene production and germination in 0.1 m NaCI (- 0.49 MPa) solution at 25C (r = 0.95, intact seeds), in - 0.3 MPa PEG solution (r = 0.86, intact seeds; r = 0.81, slit seeds), and in water at 32C (r = 0.80, slit seeds) or 35C (r = 0.80, slit seeds). Slitting the seed coat increased the ethylene production and improved germination during osmotic restraint in most cultivars, particularly in `Mesa 659' and `Super 59'. The differing ability of cultivars to produce ethylene during stress generally corresponded with their ability to generate germination potential. Ethylene production and germination potential in untreated and ACC-treated `Mesa 659' seeds increased upon slitting under stressful conditions. Thus, the ability of seeds to produce ethylene and to generate high germination potential under stressful conditions may be used as criteria to select stress-tolerant lettuce cultivars. Chemical names used: polyethylene glycol 8000 (PEG), 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), (2-chlorethyl) phosphoric acid (ethephon).

The article presents the effect of three sowing dates on the growth, development and yielding of four soybean cultivars of different earliness and under different temperature and precipitation conditions across the years. The seed yield from early sowing significantly correlated with the total precipitation in June and July, and at later dates, also with the total precipitation in August. The significantly highest soybean yields were collected from the sowing at a turn of April and May, and the highest seed and protein yield, as well as protein content in seed, were recorded for the mid-early Merlin cultivar. Neither the number and the seed weight per pod nor the 1 000-seed weight significantly depended on the sowing date. Over years, a significant, almost linear decrease in the plant height and the first pod setting height, the weight of nodules, the protein yield and the LAI (leaf area index) value was observed. High significant correlations were found between the seed yield and the plant height and the first pod setting height, as well as between the seed number and the seed weight per pod and the 1 000-seed weight as well as between the plant height and the first pod setting height.

White lupin seeds have been used in human nutrition and treatment for several thousand years. Nowadays the use of white lupin seeds is limited by a small scale of their production. However, in the last 20 years quite new properties of white lupin have been discovered for the application in the production of different kinds of functional food. Unique traits of protein, fatty acids with a desirable ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 acids, and fibre as well as other specific components, for example oligosaccharides and antioxidants or non-starch carbohydrates, make white lupin an excellent component in many healthy diets. The effects of white lupin components concern the physiological condition of the human body, including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, lipid concentration, glycaemia, appetite, insulin resistance, and colorectal cancer. Seeds are used among others for the production of gluten-free flour, bacterial and fungal fermented products, noodle and pasta products, as substitutes of meat, egg protein and sausages, also are cooked, roasted and ground and mixed with cereal flour in the production of bread, crisps and pasta, crisps and dietary dishes.

The paper presents the effect of planting density and row spacing on the growth, development and yield of soybean, cv. Merlin, under very diversified thermal and humidity conditions in the north-central part of Poland. The field experiment was performed in 2016–2019. Three planting densities were applied (70, 90 and 110 seeds per 1 m²) with two row spacing (16 and 32 cm), in 4 replications. Under good humidity and thermal conditions in 2016 and 2017, the yield of seeds and protein in soybean was 3.3 times higher than if exposed to extreme drought and accompanying high air temperatures in 2018 and 2019. The highly diversified thermal and humidity conditions also contributed to a significant decrease in the effect of the factors applied on the structural yield components, leaf area index and dry matter of nodules. As a result, no need of increasing soybean density was observed; along with row spacing, it should be chosen according to the region.

Two-way field experiment was carried out in a split-plot design in 4 growing seasons at the Experimental Station of the Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology in Mochełek (Poland). The forecrops for winter triticale cv. Tulus were lupins: yellow, blue and white, field pea and spring barley. Nitrogen (N) fertilization in triticale after harvesting forecrops was: 0-60-120-180 kg N per ha. Average long-term yields of grain and protein in triticale after leguminous forecrops were statistically similar, by 0.84 t/ha and 86 kg/ha higher than after spring barley. On plots without mineral N fertilization, by over 1.5 t/ha more grain was obtained after leguminous forecrops, and by 142 kg/ha more protein than on the plot after spring barley. However, the rate of 180 kg N/ha guaranteed obtaining a significantly highest mean protein yield in triticale. The applied mineral N fertilization at rates from 60 to 180 kg N/ha did not significantly vary the average yield of winter triticale. Mineral nitrogen (N min ) content in the layer 0-60 cm after harvesting the leguminous forecrop without mineral N fertilization was by 25.5% higher than after harvesting spring barley fertilized with a rate of 60 kg N per ha.

The paper presents results of 3-year field studies carried out in a split-block design in four replications in the years 2012-2014 at the Agricultural Experiment Station in Mochełek (Poland). The effect of intensification of cultivation technologies on the yield of morphologically diversified cultivars of white (Lupinus albus), yellow (L. luteus) and narrow-leafed lupin (L. angustifolius) was examined. Traditional cultivars of white and yellow lupin gave significantly higher yields than the self-completing ones, as opposed to narrow-leafed lupin in which the self-completing cultivar had higher yields. Increasing expenses on industrial production means caused an increase in the yield of all the studied species. Seed yield of white and narrow-leafed lupin was significantly the highest in high-input technology, while that of yellow lupin in high-and medium-input technology. In all lupin species, insignificant diversification was observed in the number of pods per plant in medium-and high-input technologies as well as in low-and medium-input technologies. A significant increase in the seed yield along with an increasing intensity of the cultivation of traditional and self-completing cultivars of white and yellow lupin, as well as self-completing cultivars of narrow-leafed lupin, resulted mainly from developing a higher number of pods.