Seeds germination pre-sowing techniques and growth performance of some selected savanna agroforestry tree species

Abstract

The study was conducted at Forest Nursery Unit of Federal University Dutsin-Ma to assess seeds germination pre-sowing techniques and growth performance of some selected savanna agroforestry tree species. A 5 x 5 factorial in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used for this experiment in four replicates. The factors were agroforestry tree seeds (AFTS); Acacia nilotica (AN); Parkia biglobosa (PB); Diospyros mespiliformis (DMk); Detarium microcapum (DMt); Adansonia digitata (AD) and presowing treatments; Seeds soaked in 60 % diluted Tetraoxosulphate (VI) acid (H2SO4) (A); mechanical scarification (Ms); hot water at 600 C (HW); seeds soaked in water for 24 hours (W); control (C). The data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) at p = .05. Days of emergence was observed to start on 6 days after sowing (DAS) in AN seed treated with H₂SO₄ for 5 minutes (AAN) and DMk seeds soaked in water for 24 hours (WDMk). AN seed soaked in H₂SO₄ for 5 minutes (AAN) and DMtseeds soaked in H₂SO₄ for 5 minutes (ADMt) gave the highest (60 % and 50 %) germination percentage respectively. AN had significantly higher values (19.58 and 22.78) on plant height (PH) at 8-10 weeks of sowing (WAS) respectively. There was no significant difference among the pre-sowing treatments on PH across the period of experiment. AD had consistent significantly higher values (207.73, 217.66, 226.67, 232.49 and 237.25) on leaf area (LA) at 2-10 WAS. In conclusion, AN and DMt seeds soaked in H₂SO₄ acid for 5 minutes were the best performing seeds, while, the use of acid was an effective technique to break dormancy for improved seedling growth in the nursery.