EFFECT OF STORAGE ENVIRONMENTS AND DURATION ON GERMINATION OF COWPEA (VIGNA UNGUICULATA (L.) WALP) SEEDS

Authors

  • A A Olosunde
  • D O Coker
  • T O Ajiboye
  • A O Ojo

Keywords:

Cowpea, Environment, Germination, Period, Storage

Abstract

Seed storage is an integral aspect in crop genebank management and this is important to get adequate healthy and vigorous plant stands. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of storage environments and duration on germination of cowpea seeds. Seeds of two cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) varieties, Ife Brown and SAMPEA 12 were used for the study. The seed samples from each variety were kept separately under ambient, short and medium term conditions for a period of one year using plastic containers as packaging materials. Electricity supply for minimum of ten hours was ensured in both short and medium term storage environments. Germination test was conducted on stored seed samples, which were drawn in four quarters i.e. May, August, November and February (2015-2016). The experiment was arranged in 2 x 3 x 4 factorial using complete randomization design (CRD) in three replication. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that effect of variety was significant (P<0.05) while effects of storage environment and storage period were highly significant (P<0.01) on germination of cowpea seeds. In addition, interaction effects of variety with storage environment and storage period with storage environment were highly significant (P<0.01) on germination of cowpea seeds. However, the non-significant difference observed between germination of cowpea seeds stored under the two coldrooms suggested that duration of power supply to coldrooms should be given priority. Furthermore, the observed significant interaction between storage period and environment suggested that in assessing germination of cowpea seed lot, storage conditions should be given prime consideration.

Published

2017-12-18