Effects of Different Methods of Breaking Seed Dormancy on the Germination of Flamboyant Seed (Delonix Regia) in Bauchi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The experiments was conducted in 2014 dry season at the soil science laboratory and also in the nursery of the Bauchi state college of Agriculture Bauchi, to investigate the effect of different methods of breaking seed dormancy on the germination of flamboyant seed (Delonix Regia). The treatments consisted of hot water at 100⁰c, 75⁰c, 50⁰c, sulphuric acid at 1:5, 1:10, 1:15 and abrasion using knife, sand paper, stone and control. The treatments were laid out in a completely randomize design (CRD) with three replications. Data were collected on germination in the laboratory, number of days to emergence/germination and number of healthy seedlings produced after sowing in the nursery. All data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and least significant difference was adopted in separating the significantly different treatment means. The results of the experiment revealed that, there is a significant (P<0.01) difference among the various methods used in breaking seed dormancy of flamboyant tree. The result obtained on the use of hot water revealed that, the use of 75⁰c and 100⁰c were found to promote germination of flamboyant seed both in the laboratory and in the nursery better than the other treatments. On the various concentration of sulphuric acid used, however, the lower concentration of 1:15 was found to promote germination of flamboyant seed up to 8.33%, while the other treatments were found to be lethal. In abrasion methods, on the other hand, the use of knife was found to be better followed by sandpaper and then stone. The control treatment on the other hand recorded the least germination percentage in all the methods used. Based on the result of this finding, the use of mechanical scarification should be adopted in breaking flamboyant seed dormancy by farmers in the study area.