Evaluation of different pre-sowing seed treatments to break dormancy of Crotalaria senegalensis, a famous rangeland forage in Sudan

The aim of the present investigation was to evaluate various methods for breaking dormancy of Crotalaria senegalensis seeds. The seeds were subjected to the following treatments for physical and physiological dormancy breaks: (1) physical scarification which carried out by soaking intact seeds in distilled water for 24 h at ambient temperature (25°C) , soaking in hot distilled water (80°C) for 15 and 30 min, immersion in H2SO4 (98%) for 5, 15 and 30 min and mechanical scarification by sand paper. The physiological dormancy break treatments include: (1) soaking scarified seeds in distilled water for 24 h at ambient temperature (25°C), (2) immersion in 1%, 2% and 4% KNO3 and (3) soaking in golden leaf purslane extract for 8, 16 and 24 h. All scarification treatments improved the germination capacity of C. senegalensis seeds, the highest being after soaking in golden leaf extract followed by soaking scarified seeds in water for 24 h and immersion in 1% KNO3. The results showed that using mechanical scarification with sand paper and immersion seeds in H2SO4 (98%) for 30 min to break seed physical dormancy of C. senegalensis was the most effective treatments but inefficient because mechanical scarification break small seeds of the crotalaria especially for large quantities lots and it was proven to be a labor intensive process. On the other hand the acid H2SO4 treatment is costly and dangerous in handling. To break physiological dormancy of C. senegalensis seeds, soaking in golden leaf purslane extract for 16 h represent the most recommended treatment.

Author(s): Atif Hassan Naim, Abdalhalim Hassan El Hadi and Faisal El Gasim Ahmed

Abstract | PDF

Share This Article