Different Treatments for Breaking Dormancy of Leucaena Seeds (Leucaena leucocephala)

Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate the influence of methods for breaking dormancy the seeds of tropical forage legume Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.). The seed treatments were: (T1) water at 100 ºC/10 min; (T2) water at 100 ºC/1 min; (T3) Acetone (10 min); (T4) Ethyl alcohol (10 minutes); and (T5) intact seeds (control). Data were analyzed using a completely randomized design with eight replications, and it was adopted the Tukey test at 5% significance level. The treatment T1, had the highest speed of germination of seeds GSI, differed (P < 0.05). The T5 treatment (control) was the slowest response, that treatments that passed through some break dormancy until the seventh day after the beginning of the test (Germ7), with an amount of 20% accumulation of germinated seeds. The worst result of germination it was T5, with 30% of non-germinated seeds after 15 days of sowing.