One field experiment was conducted to study the effect of different seed priming techniques on forage maize (Zea mays L.) var. J-1006 under rainfed situation during kharif seasons of 2016, 2017 and 2018 at Central Research Farm (CRF), BCKV, Gayeshpur, Nadia in new alluvial zone of West Bengal, India with nine treatments i.e., priming with water for 6 and 12 hrs., priming with ZnSO₄ @ 0.5% for 6 and 12 hrs., priming with KNO₃ @ 0.5% for 6 and 12 hrs. and lastly priming with KH₂PO₄ @ 0.5% for 6 and 12 hrs. and one Control (no priming treatment). The experimental design was Randomized Block Design (RBD) comprising of three replications. Results revealed that seeds primed with KNO3 @ 0.5% for 12 hrs recorded the highest germination %, plant height, no. of leaves plant^-1, leaf: stem, green fodder productivity and dry matter yield, crude protein yield, crude protein percentage, acid detergent fiber, in vitro dry matter digestibility, neutral detergent fiber. Different seed priming techniques increased the forage and crude protein yield of maize var. J-1006 by 31.07% and 69.73 % respectively over control. Based on the pooled analysis of 3 years of filed experimentation, forage maize seed priming with KNO³ @ 0.5% for 12 hrs may be recommended due to highest green forage productivity (445.8 q ha^-1) and higher crude protein yield (12.9 q ha^-1) as well as highest B:C ratio (3.12) under rainfed situation.