Effects of pre-sowing treatments on seed germination and Morphological growth of Acacia nilotica and Faidherbia albida

Abstract

Forests are generated by natural and artificial means. In case of artificial regeneration seedlings are raised in nurseries and transplanted to the field. Sexual and asexual propagation methods are commonly used for growing trees. Most of the trees are propagated by sexual means. Sometimes healthy seeds do not germinate even after the availability of proper temperature, light and sufficient moisture. Seed dormancy is the failure of the developed seed to germinate in the appropriate situation. Objective of our study was to discover the best suitable technique for breaking seed dormancy of Acacia nilotica and Faidherbia albida. To increase the germination, different dormancy breaking techniques were used including, hot water, cold water, mechanical and sulphuric acid treatment. This research was conducted in (RCBD) Randomized complete block design and data concerning germination and other factors were collected weekly. Numerous morphological parameters were studied. The maximum survival percentage was observed in hot water treatment followed by cold water treatment and mechanical treatment. Maximum germination percentage was 76.2 (%) and it was observed in A.nilotica whereas minimum 12.6 (%) was observed in F.albida. Highest survival percentage was 62.8% and minimum 8.8%, maximum plant height 9.99 cm while minimum height was 2.39 cm, maximum root length was 8.09 cm and minimum 2.12 cm was recorded in A.nilotica and F.albida in all treatments. From our study, we found that, hot water treatment was the best technique for seed germination of A. nilotica and F. albida seeds.