Determinants of RATE of ION Leakage in FULLY Imbibed Hybrid Maize SEEDS.

High seed quality is the basis of higher agricultural productivity. Such seeds are specifically bred, genetically distinct and pure, free from diseases and vigorous in growth and performance.  In Africa, the production and use of high quality seeds is low and there are yet untapped possibilities to raise the yield of grain crops through seed technology.  Extrapolation of information on grain production for seed production, though detrimental, is still prevalent because the physiological and technological bases of producing and handling agricultural seeds in order to guarantee high quality all through the production, harvesting, processing, storage and distribution chain are still not yet fully understood.  In order to fill some of the gaps in the current understanding of the physiology of seed quality, two sets of commercial hybrid maize seeds lots were subjected to conductivity test.  This test is useful for assessing the integrity of cellular membranes and of predicting for how long seed quality could be retained during storage.  One set comprised lots that differed in maturity while another set comprised lots that had been subjected to different harvest and post-harvest processing methods.  Conductivity measurements were taken at the following times after imbibition in de-ionized distilled water -0 (within 5 minutes after adding water), 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 24 h.  The single major determinant of seed vigour was the genetic make-up, accounting for 95.1% of the variability in the rate of ion leakage of the set with seed lots that differed in maturity and 51.4% in the set with lots subjected to different harvest and post-harvest methods.  Thus, Contrary to the prevalent practice among breeders to push seed quality assessment to the terminal end of varietal development and limit it to germination testing, selection for high seed vigour should be incorporated into breeding programmes for grain crops.

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 [A1]Seed quality, vigour, conductivity, genetic make-up.

See more from this Division: C04 Seed Physiology, Production & Technology
See more from this Session: Seed Physiology, Production and Technology: I

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