EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT SEED TREATMENT METHODS ON THE PERCENT GERMINATION, SEEDLING VIGOR AND BIOMASS PRODUCTION OF GROUNDNUTS IN GHANA

Abstract

Low plant stand due to poor seed germination accounts for over 70% of the low production and productivity of crops in Ghana. This led to the conduction of an experiment to ascertain the effects of hot water, diathane M45 (D) and maceration (M) treatment on the viability, vigor and biomass production of three groundnut varieties, Chinese, Manipintar and F-mix. Maceration and D produced significantly higher rate of germination in Chinese and Manipintar than their controls. The three main treatments had no significant effect on the speed of germination of F-mix seeds. Hot water at 500C level (H500C), M1 and D1 treatments gave significantly higher germination percentage values for Chinese and Manipintar but not for F-mix. M1 and D1 treatments gave mean vigor indices significantly higher than their controls for Chinese, Manipintar and F-mix. However, it was only in Chinese where 500C hot water treatment produced significantly higher vigor index than the 600C level. 500C, M1 and D1 yielded significantly higher than their controls in Manipintar and F-mix, respectively. Chinese seeds treated with various levels of hot water and D1 gave biomass yields significantly higher than seeds treated with hot water without diathane. Speed of germination, seedling vigor, germination percent and biomass production were about two or more times better and significantly higher in Chinese and Manipintar than F-mix, irrespective if the treatment levels. Maceration emerged as the gest single treatment and could be adopted by farmers to increase germination percentage and plant stand at farm level since it is readily available to the farmers and cheap.