Effect of seed moisture content on viability at low temperature storage
2008
Rabara, R.C. | Ferrer, M.C., Philippine Rice Research Inst., Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, 3119 Nueva Ecija (Philippines) Plant Breeding and Biotechnology Div.
Seed moisture content is one of the factors that affect the viability of seeds at storage. One of the Harrington's rule of thumb is that for every one percent increase in seed moisture content, the seed life is halved. This study was conducted to determine the correlation of seed viability and moisture content under cold storage condition. Seeds packed in aluminum foil and were in storage for 3 years in freezers were tested for viability following the standard germination test. The seed moisture content of each sample was also measured using portable moisture meter. Seeds were germinated in between moistered paper towel and incubated in 30 deg C incubator. Seeds were placed in 50 deg C oven five days to break dormancy prior to germination test. Scoring was done 14 days after sowing. The moisture content of the seed samples ranged between 8 to 15.0%. A total of 1024 seed samples were tested and 618 samples (60% of the total sample tested) showed no germination. Most entries (532 samples) that showed no germination have moisture content ranging between 11.0-15.0%. The results showed that seed viability is correlated with seed moisture content (r
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by University of the Philippines at Los Baños