Viability of soybean seeds at different initial moisture contents and storage

English. An experiment was conducted at the Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Bogor Research Institute for Food Crops from August 1988 until May 1989. Three soybean varieties i.e, Galunggung, Lokon, and Kerinci were grown at Citayam experimental farm during the 1988 dry season. Seeds were harvested at harvest maturity, divided into three seed lots. The seeds were dried to water contents of 10-10,5 percent, 8-8.5 percent, and 7-8 percent respectively. The seeds with different moisture were packaged in polyethylene bags and plastic sacks, then stored in a seed storage at Citayam experimental farm for 9 months. Seed samples were taken monthly from the stored seeds to check moisture content and viability of the seeds. Moisture content of the seeds increased by 5,1 to 8,5 percent when they were stored in plastic sacks, but only slightly increased when stored in polyethylene bags. Viability of the seeds was above 95 percent when stored in polyethylene bags and did not decrease significantly after 9 months storage. The viability of soybean seeds could be maintained for 9 months when the initial moisture of the seeds was less than 8 percent and the seeds were stored in polyethylene bags

Indonesian. Penelitian dilakukan dengan tujuan untuk mempelajari pengaruh kadar air awal dan cara penyimpanan terhadap beberapa varietas kedelai. Tiga varietas kedelai, yaitu Galunggung, Lokon, dan Kerinci hasil panen musim kemarau 1988 di KP Citayam dikeringkan sampai setiap varietas mempunyai tingkat kadar air benih antara 10-10,5; 8-8,5; dan 7-8 persen. Benih tiga varietas kedelai dengan tingkat kadar air yang berbeda dikemas dengan kantong plastik kedap udara dan karung plastik kemudian disimpan di KP Citayam. Contoh benih dari setiap perlakuan diambil setiap bulan dan dibawa ke laboratorium Kelompok Peneliti Ekologi dan Fisologi Balittan Bogor untuk diamati mengenai kadar air benih dan viabilitasnya. Kadar air benih meningkat 5,1-8,5 persen apabila benih dikemas dengan karung plastik, tetapi peningkatan kadar air relatif kecil apabila benih dikemas dengan kantong plastik kedap udara. Viabilitas benih yang dikemas dengan kantong plastik kedap udara tidak turun nyata, setelah 9 bulan penyimpanan daya tumbuhnya masih diatas 95 persen