Abstract:The effects of soaking temperature (5,10,15,20,25℃) and time (12,24,36 h) on seed vigor and its germination of Setaria sphacelata cv.Narok were studied in order to screen out suitable conditions for improving the vigor and germination rate.The results showed that all 15 treatments significantly improved the vigor and germination rate of seeds.The germination rate and vigor index of T5H24 (soaking 24 h at 5℃) were as high as 81.33% and 0.015 3 respectively,and they reached 76.67% and 0.014 9,respectively in T5H36 (36 h soaking at 5℃),which were 11 times and 25 times higher than CK.It can be concluded that soaking at 5℃ for 24~36 h is the best treatment for improving the germination rate.