PRE-GERMINATION AND DORMANCY RESPONSE OF MORINGA OLEIFERA (DRUM STICK) SEEDS TO PRE-TREATMENTS TECHNIQUES AND GROWTH MEDIA

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of two pretreatment techniques (Cold water and Hot water) and growth media on breaking seed dormancy and germination response of Moringa oleifera seeds. The seeds were immersed in cold water (3hrs, 6hrs, and 12hrs) and hot water (7min, 10min, and 14min).After pre-treatment the seeds were sown on three different growth media. Randomized complete Block design with 2 treatments and 3 germination media was adopted for this experiment. The result showed that earliest mean days of emergence (8days) was observed in seeds subjected to cold water treatment soak for 12hrs time interval and sowed in sandy soil as growth medium. The highest rate of germination was recorded in cold water treatment soak for 12hrs and sowed in sandy soil growth medium (13) and loamy soil growth medium (10) with significant variation while the other recorded the lower germination rate (01-04). Sandy soil growth medium showed significant effect in cold water treatment soak for 12hrs. Thus cold water soaked for 12hrs and sowed in sandy soil growth medium was recommended for pretreatment of Moringa oleifera seeds prior to planting to improve germination performance. In situations where the use of cold water pretreatment might be limited by certain risk factors, control should be adopted.