Harvesting methods on physical and physiological quality of Panicum maximum seeds

Abstract

The quality of seeds of forage species can be influenced by the different harvesting methods used. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physical and physiological quality of seeds of Panicum maximum, cultivars 'Massai' and 'Mombaça' , obtained by the methods of ground sweeping and direct heading (cutting of the panicles) of different farmers in the year 2014. The test consisted of three lots of each cultivar from seed farmers in the state of Goiás, Brazil. The experimental design was completely randomized, in 3 x 2 factorial scheme (farmer x harvesting methods) with four replicates. The following variables were analyzed: physical purity, 1000-seed weight; germination and first count of germination. At the end of the germination the percentage of dormancy and dead seeds were evaluated by the tetrazolium test of the remaining seeds, in addition to the abnormal seedlings. The data were submitted to analysis of variance and the means of the treatments were compared by Tukey test at 0.05 probability level. Seeds of P. maximum 'Massai' and 'Mombaça' collected by ground sweeping have superior physiological quality despite the low level of purity of the lots, compared to direct heading method.Métodos de colheita na qualidade física e fisiológica de sementes de Panicum maximum RESUMO: A qualidade de sementes de espécies forrageiras pode ser influenciada pelos diferentes métodos de colheita utilizados. Nesta pesquisa objetivou-se avaliar a qualidade física e fisiológica de sementes de Panicum maximum cultivares Massai e Mombaça, obtidas pelos métodos de colheita no cacho (corte das panículas) e varredura do solo, de diferentes produtores no ano de 2014. O ensaio constituiu-se de três lotes de cada cultivar oriundas de produtores de sementes do Estado de Goiás, Brasil. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualizado em esquema fatorial 3 x 2 (produtor x método de colheita) com quatro repetições. Foram avaliadas: pureza física, massa de mil sementes; germinação e primeira contagem de germinação. Ao final do teste foram avaliadas as porcentagens de sementes dormentes e mortas, pelo teste de tetrazólio das sementes remanescentes, além das plântulas anormais. Após a obtenção dos dados, os mesmos foram submetidos à análise de variância e as médias dos tratamentos foram comparadas pelo teste de Tukey, a 0,05 de probabilidade. As sementes de P. maximum cultivares Massai e Mombaça colhidas por varredura do solo tem melhor qualidade fisiológica, apesar do baixo nível de pureza dos lotes quando comparadas à colheita no cacho.

Envelope method for the germination test of Mombasa grass

“…According to the norms (MAPA, 2008), the germination test for Mombasa grass should use the sowing on paper method, packed inside transparent plastic boxes (11.0 x 11.0 x 3.5 cm) that are usually called "Gerbox" laboratory routine, which should be kept at 20-30ºC or 15-35ºC for 28 days, when the final count of the germinated seeds is performed. This is the routine procedure (Melo et al, 2018;Machado, Cruz, Silva, Carneiro, & Silva, 2019a;Pereira, Martins, Jeromini, Gomes, & Torres, 2020).…”