Relationship between Laboratory Seed Quality Tests and Field Emergence of Common Bean Seed

Abstract

In cool climates, early planting of bean (Phaseolis vulgaris L.) is recommended to assure a longer vegetative growth period. Early planting exposes seed to unfavorable conditions and the commonly used standard germination test cannot predict field emergence. The objective of this work was to examine the relationships between various seed quality tests and field emergence of common bean seeds. Thirty‐nine strains and cultivars of bean were tested in the field and laboratory over 3 yr. Each year seed samples were tested in the laboratory and then planted in the field at very early, early, and at optimal planting dates. The viability of seeds was test by tetrazolium staining and was generally high; standard germination was above 80%, but germination in the cool test (at 10°C) varied from 0 to 99%. The percentage of seeds with broken coats varied from 0.5 to 50.3 and conductivity ranged from 7 to 45 μS cm−1 g−1. Field emergence varied from 0 to 100%. Soil temperature at sowing appeared to be not only the most important environmental factor influencing field emergence but also a factor able to be used to differentiate the field emergence potential of a seed lot. Only the conductivity test could be used to predict seedling emergence in the field irrespective of soil temperature at sowing. At temperatures ranging from 9 to 15°C, the first and the last count of the standard germination test and the broken seed coat test should be used in conjunction with the conductivity test to estimate field emergence potential.

Germination and field emergence potential of soybean land races vs improved varieties under different sowing dates

“…Field emergence significantly declined in seeds obtained from June (47.6%) and July (46.2%) planted crops. The greater field emergence of seeds from early planted crop could be attributed to availability of longer growing period for dry matter accumulation, seed development, seed filling and proper maturation in comparison to the seeds from late planted crop and thus our findings are in total agreement concerning, Field emergence % age [8].…”

Germination of common bean under constant and alternating cool temperatures

“…Seed tolerant of cooler temperature is able to maintain cell membrane integrity. Traits such as the semi-hard seed coat (Taylor and Dickson 1987), reduced rate of water imbibition and electrolyte leakage (Kolasinska et al 2000) have all been used as screening tools. In our study, water imbibition and electrolyte leakage were not considered.…”

“…Genotypes and seed lots of specific genotypes have been found to differ in their ability to germinate in cold soil (Pollock et al 1969;Jennings 1999;Kolasinska et al 2000). Much research on bean germination under controlled cold temperatures has used constant temperature regimes, but alternating temperatures appear to be a strong signal for inducing germination (e.g., Zaiter et al 1994).…”

Efficiency of Vigor Tests and Seed Elemental Concentrations to Estimate Field Emergence in Soybean (Glycine max)

“…It doesn't completely estimate the seedling emergence performance because field conditions are rarely optimum for germination, which adversely affect the emergence and subsequent seedling growth (Hampton and TeKrony, 1995;Kolasinska et al, 2000;Khan et al, 2010). Tekrony and Egli (1977) reported the standard germination exhibited a significant correlation with field emergence of soybean only if favorable field conditions have been available while Makkawi et al (1999) demonstrated the standard germination was the only test to be useful for predicting field emergence of lentil.…”